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THE   ABRAHAMIC    COVENANT 

THE 

DIVETELY  APPOINTED  MEANS 

TO    SECURE    THE 

PERPETUITY   OF    THE    CHURCH, 

AND  THE 
CONVERSION   OF  THE  WORLD. 

/ 

BY  JAMES  H.  THOMAS. 


-If  ye  be  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heira  according  to 
the  promise." — Gal.  iii.  29. 


NEW-YORK : 
PUBLISHED   BY   M.   W.  DODD, 

Corner  of  City  Hall  Place  and  Spruce  Street, 

1849. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18-19,  by 

M.    W.    DODD, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court,  for  the  Southern  Diitric!: 
of  New  York. 


E.    O.    JENKINS,   PRINTER., 

114  Nassaa  street. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

Nature  of  the  Abrahamic  Covenant,     .        .      15 

CHAPTER  IL 

Oneness  of  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Church,      49 

CHAPTER  HL 

Parental  Fidelity  rewarded,        .        .        .82 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Connection  of  the  Whole  with  the  Conver- 
sion OF  the  World,         .        .        .        .      101 


PREFACE 


My  object  in  giving  these  sermons  to  the 
public  is  not  because  there  is  anything  new- 
er strange  in  them  to  the  intelligent  Chris- 
tian, but  to  stir  up  the  pure  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple of  God  to  more  diligence  and- fidelity  in 
the  religious  education  of  their  children 
according  to  the  covenant  vows  of  God 
upon  them.  In  the  course  of  more  than 
thirty-five  years  in  the  ministry,  I  have  seen 
many  seasons  of  prosperity  and  declension 
in  the  church  of  God  ;  and  I  have  frequently 
inquired,  with  deep  interest,  why  does  the 
church  experience  so  many  ups  and  downs, 
when  it  is  in  fact  based  upon  divine  promises, 
as  firm   and   immutable  as   eternal  truth? 


XU  PREFACE. 

Why  do  her  friends  and  patrons  shrink  and 
tremble  lest  they  should  be  lost  and  perish 
under  her  ruins  1  Can  there  be  any  suspi- 
cion that  our  covenant-keeping  God  will 
ever  forget  his  promise,  and  leave  that  be- 
loved Zion  to  perish  which  He  loveth  more 
than  all  the  dwellings  of  Jacob  ?  Can  He 
fail  to  accomplish  all  that  He  has  pledged  to 
his  church  and  people  ?  Has  God  prom- 
ised, *  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should 
go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart 
from  it,'  and  will  He  not  make  it  good  ?  Can 
one  instance  be  found  in  the  whole  history 
of  the  church  where  God  has  been  unfaith- 
ful to  this  promise  ?  If  we  have  had  wicked 
and  disobedient  children,  the  fault  is  ours, 
and  not  God's.  Though  we  may  be  pious, 
yet  we  have  not,  hke  Abraham,  commanded 
our  children  and  household  after  us.  We 
have  been  unfaithful  to  our  covenanted 
vows,  and  have  reaped  its  bitter  fruits. 

There  has  been  too  much  of  human  inven- 
tion introduced  into  the  administration  of 


PREFACE.  XUl 

ecclesiastical  affairs,  and  too  little  depend- 
ence upon  the  divine  promise  and  the 
divinely  appointed  means  of  grace.  We 
appear  to  have  forgotten,  so  far  as  practice 
is  concei'ned,  that  one  grand  design  of  the 
gospel  was  to  '  turn  the  hearts  of  fathers  to 
their  children,  and  the  disobedient  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  just,  and  to  make  ready  a 
people  prepared  for  the  Lord.'  If  the 
church  were  truly  faithful  to  their  children, 
and  dealt  faithfully  with  their  baptized  chil- 
dren through  their  parents,  and  thus  recog- 
nize their  relationship  to  the  church,  we 
should  see  less  of  error,  heresy,  schism  and 
delusion  in  the  church,  and  a  far  higher  tone 
of  vital  piety. 

In  all  the  churches  with  which  I  have 
been  associated,  the  declension  of  vital  piety 
may  be  traced  to  a  neglect  of  parental  fidel- 
ity in  the  religious  education  of  their  child- 
ren. Children  are  not  treated  as  if  they 
were  the  most  remotely  related  to  the 
church.     And  the  church  does  not  appear  to 


XIV  PREFACE. 

feel  her  obligation  to  pray  with  and  watch 
over  the  conduct  of  those  children  who  have 
the  seal  of  the  covenant  upon  them.  When 
the  church  performs  all  the  duties  of  a 
mother  to  her  children,  and  when  parents 
faithfully  fulfil  her  covenant  vows,  then  shall 
we  see  a  people  prepared  for  the  Lord. 

If  the  following  discussion  should  be  so 
overruled  by  the  great  Head  of  the  church 
as  to  constrain  the  covenant  people  of  God 
to  the  faithful  performance  of  their  duty  to 
their  children,  then  my  object  will  be 
attained,  my  prayers  answered,  the  church 
of  Jesus  Christ  benefitted,  and  the  covenant- 
keeping  God  of  Abraham  glorified. 

J.  h;  t. 


r. 


THE 


ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT, 


CONVERSION    OF    THE    WORLD. 


CHAPTER  I. 


"  And  I  will  establish  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee,  and  thy 
seed  after  thee  in  their  generations,  for  an  everlasting  covenant,  to  be  a 
God  to  thee,  and  thy  seed  after  thee." — Genesis,  xvii.  7. 

The  history  of  the  venerable  patriarch,  Abra- 
ham, is  very  interesting  when  considered  as  the 
father  of  the  faithfuh  In  his  family  the  church 
of  God  was  first  visibly  organized.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  important  eras  in  the  history  of  the 
church.  Abraham  was  educated  in  the  idolatry 
of  those  times,  and  continued  in  his  impenitent 
course  till  commanded  by  his  God  to  leave  his 
native  country,  his  kindred,  and  his  father's  family, 
and  go  to  a  land  that  would  be  shown  to  him. 
And  to  encourage  him  to  practise  such  great  self- 
denial,  God  says :  '  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great 
nation,  and  I  will  bless  thee,  and  make  thy  name 
2 


16  THE    NATURE    OF 

great ;  and  thou  slialt  be  a  blessing.  And  I  will 
bless  them  that  bless  thee,  and  curse  him  that 
curseth  thee :  and  in  thee  shall  all  the  families  of 
the  earth  be  blessed.'  With  such  encouragement, 
he  leaves  his  friends  to  go  and  sojourn  among 
strangers.  When  he  arrived  in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
God  promised  to  give  all  the  land  to  his  posterity. 
On  account  of  a  famine,  Abraham  was  compelled 
to  go  down  to  Egypt.  From  this  place  he  soon 
returned,  and  Lot  with  him,  to  the  altar  he  had 
erected  at  Bethel.  Soon  after  this,  Abraham  and 
Lot  separate,  and  it  was  so  arranged  that  Abra- 
ham tarried  in  the  borders  of  Canaan.  Abraham, 
in  the  course  of  his  journeying,  met  with  Mel- 
chisedec.  King  of  Salem,  and  priest  of  the  most 
high  God,  who  blessed  him,  and  to  him  Abraham 
gave  tithes.  He  received  frequent  assurances  of 
God's  design  to  bless  him  and  his  posterity,  till 
we  come  to  that  period  in  which  the  words  of  the 
text  were  uttered,  when  and  where  God  established 
his  covenant  with  him ;  and,  as  a  confirmation  of 
that  covenant,  his  name  is  changed  from  Abram 
to  Abraham;  the  first  signifying  a  high  father, 
and  the  latter  a  father  of  a  multitude. 

I.  Investigate  the  nature  of  the  Abrahamic 

COVENANT. 

II.  All  his  posterity  are  interested  in  this 

COVENANT. 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         lY 

I.  Investigate  the  nature  of  the  Abrahamic 
covenant. 

1st.  From  a  careful  examination  of  the  history 
of  the  Jews,  it  appears  there  were  very  many 
wicked  people  in  covenant.  In  the  visible  church, 
many  had  nothing  but  the  external  form  of  godli- 
ness ;  they  were  entirely  ignorant  of  the  power  of 
religion  in  the  heart ;  and  in  a  short  time  even  the 
form  of  godliness  was  laid  aside,  and  all  respect 
for  God. and  his  law  was  banished  from  the  heart 
and  practice  ;  yea,  their  most  costly  sacrifices  had 
become  an  abomination  to  the  Lord.  Wickedness 
and  hypocrisy  had  increased  to  such  a  degree, 
that  the  Saviour  found  a  very  small  remnant  who 
were  truly  pious.  The  tradition  of  the  ancients, 
the  superstition  and  bigotry  of  that  corrupted  age, 
and  the  depravity  and  deceitfulness  of  the  carnal 
heart,  had  obliterated  almost  every  vestige  of 
genuine  piety.  They  had  become  worse  than  the 
heathen  around  them.  Notwithstanding  all  this 
wickedness  and  presumptuous  impiety,  they  were 
visibly  in  covenant  with  God.  They  called  Abra- 
ham their  father,  and  God  their  God.  They  were 
esteemed  the  people  of  God  by  all  the  surround- 
ing nations.  They  were  the  natural  seed  of  Abra- 
ham, to  whom  the  promise  was  originally  given. 
They  received  the  sign  of  circumcision,  and  par- 
took of  the  passover ;  and  were  visibly  in  covenant 


18  THE    NATURE    OF 

as  mucli  as  Abraham.  To  the  view  of  the  gen- 
tiles, there  was  no  difference  in  their  covenant 
relation,  for  they  were  all  equally  members  of  the 
Jewish  church.  Hence  we  have  sufficient  reason 
to  conclude  that  many  thus  in  covenant  were 
vessels  of  wrath,  fitted  for  destruction.  What 
became  of  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram,  with  their 
companies  ?  Were  they  not  sent  to  a  speedy  de- 
struction ?  Where  shall  we  find  large  multitudes 
of  the  rebelHous  house  of  Israel  ?  If  they  mis- 
improved  their  superior  privileges,  were  they  not 
exposed  to  be  turned  into  hell  with  all  that  forget 
God,  notwithstanding  they  were  within  the  pale 
of  the  visible  church?  A  mere  profession  of 
religion  will  not  justify  us  before  that  God  who 
looketh  at  the  heart.  Because  Nadab  and  Abihu 
were  in  covenant,  are  they  therefore  saved  from 
the  wrath  of  a  holy  and  justly  offended  God? 
Not  at  all.  Can,  then,  the  Abrahamic  covenant 
be  the  covenant  of  grace  to  everlasting  life  ?  It 
cannot ;  for  "  they  are  not  all  Israel  which  are  of 
Israel."  If  this  covenant  had  been  the  covenant 
of  grace  to  eternal  life,  then  all  in  covenant  would 
certainly  be  saved ;  but  the  inspired  apostle  ex- 
pressly asserts  that  they  are  not  all  saved. 

2d.  The  Abrahamic  covenant  is  not  the  cove- 
nant of  works.  The  seal  of  this  covenant  is  repre- 
sented as  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith.   Has 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         19 

faith  anything  to  do,  or  can  it  be  any  way  con- 
nected, with  the  covenant  of  works  ?  Faith  was 
imputed  to  Abraham  for  righteousness.  If  the 
Jews  were  under  a  covenant  of  works,  would  they 
have  had  anything  to  do  with'  that  righteousness 
which  is  of  faith  in  a  Saviour  ?  Would  they  not 
have  been  stranorers  to  such  a  riojhteousness,  and 
ignorant  of  such  a  way  of  justification  ?  Would 
they  not  have  been  entirely  ignorant  of  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith  ?  But  the  pious 
patriarch  was  not  ignorant  of  this  doctrine,  neither 
was  the  man  after  God's  own  heart.  They  were 
both  sensible  of  their  entire  depravity,  of  the 
necessity  of  an  atonement,  and  trusted  in  a  Medi- 
ator. They  exercised  faith  in  a  Saviour  to  redeem 
them  from  all  iniquity,  and  present  them  without 
spot  or  wrinkle  before  the  bar  of  God.  In  all 
their  ablutions  and  in  all  their  sacrifices  they 
looked  forward  to  the  great  Antetype  that  was 
prefigured  in  all  these  rites  and  ceremonies.  But 
the  very  words  of  the  covenant,  *  I  will  be  a  God 
unto  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee,'  imply  an 
exercise  of  mercy  which  cannot  be  known  in  a 
covenant  of  works.  God  declares  that  he  will  be 
gracious  and  merciful  unto  him  and  his  posterity. 
The  only  condition  known  in  a  covenant  of  works 
is,  do  and  live.  If  we  ofi'end  in  one  point,  we 
become  transgressors,  and  are  exposed  to  the 
2* 


20  THE    NATURE    OF 

penalty.  There  is  no  provision  made  for  repent- 
ance and  reformation.  It  recognizes  no  way  of 
escape  for  the  transgressor.  It  demands  the 
uttermost  farthing.  But  do  not  the  very  words 
of  the  Abrahamic  covenant  imply  very  cl6arly  an 
offer  of  mercy,  and  the  possibility  of  salvation? 
What  could  God  have  said  more  than  that  he 
would  be  a  God  to  Abraham  and  his  seed?  He 
has  promised  no  more  to  those  who  live  under  the 
gospel  dispensation.  If  men  will  sincerely  repent 
of  their  sins,  and  in  faith  receive  the  Saviour  pro- 
mised to  Abraham,  they  will  experience  all  the 
blessings  of  the  covenant  made  with  Abraham. 
Here  there  is  some  prospect  of  deliverance  from 
the  penalty  of  the  law ;  here  appears  to  be  a  door 
of  mercy  opened  to  the  seed  of  Abraham ;  and 
here  are  presented  some  faint  glimmerings  of  hope 
and  mercy  to  despairing  sinners:  If  this  was  the 
covenant  of  works,  we  should  hear  no  sounds  of 
mercy,  and  not  one  ray  of  hope  would  manifest 
itself  to  the  transgressor.  But  the  words  of  this 
covenant  were  calculated  to  kindle  a  hope  in  the 
hearts  of  poor  sinners,  even  before  the  appearance 
of  the  Messiah.  It  must  therefore  be  something 
different  from  the  covenant  of  works,  for,  *  by  the 
deeds  of  the  law  no  flesh  can  be  justified '  in  the 
sight  of  God;  and  yet  Abraham  was  justified 
through  the  medium  of  the  covenant  God  made 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         21 

with  him,  for  '  Abraham  beheved  God,  and  it  was 
counted  unto  him  for  righteousness.' 

3d.  The  Abrahamic  covenant  was  not  a  cove- 
nant of  land.  It  is  very  true  that  land  was  an 
appendage  to  it ;  but  it  was  merely  a  temporal 
benefit  accompanying  a  spiritual  blessing.  '  Seek 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness, 
and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you.'  To 
the  peculiar  blessings  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant, 
God  superadds  the  land  of  Canaan.  This  was 
added,  more  to  assist  in  the  performance  of  the 
duties  enjoined  upon  them  in  the  covenant,  than 
on  any  other  account.  God  loves  to  confer  tem- 
poral benefits  and  privileges  upon  his  penitent  and 
obedient  people.  Can  we  rationally  suppose  that 
God  would  be  at  such  pains  to  establish  an  ever- 
lasting covenant  with  Abraham,  when  nothing  but 
a  little  piece  of  land  was  the  grand  object  in 
view?  God  certainly  had  a  far  greater  object  in 
view  than  the  mere  disposal  of  the  land  of  Canaan. 
Such  a  supposition  is  derogatory  to  the  divine 
character. 

4th.  Although  the  Abrahamic  covenant  was 
not  the  covenant  of  grace,  yet  it  was  a  gracious 
covenant. 

It  was  a  covenant  made  with  a  visible  com- 
munity. It  was  first  visibly  established  in  the 
family  of  Abraham,  and  by  special  promise  se- 


22  THE    NATURE    OF 

cured  to  his  seed  in  their  generations.  By  exter- 
nal relation,  God  was  specially  a  God  to  the  Jews, 
or  Israelites,  till  the  advent  of  the  Messiah,  when, 
according  to  the  spirit  of  the  divine  word,  that 
peculiar  state  of  things,  or  that  special  dispensa- 
tion, was  to  terminate ;  and  yet,  for  some  gracious 
purposes,  which  still  remain  to  be  accomplished, 
the  Jews  are  still  continued  separate  and  distinct 
from  all  other  nations  of  the  earth,  in  remem- 
brance of  this  covenant ;  for  God  remembers  all 
his  promises  made  to  his  ancient  people. 

Circumcision  was  a  token  of  the  covenant,  and 
a  seal  of  the  promise  of  God  to  bestow  blessings 
upon  all  those  in  covenant.  While  the  Jews  were 
in  covenant,  future  blessings  or  judgments  were 
promised  or  predicted.  Upon  a  careful  investiga- 
tion of  the  history  of  the  Jews,  it  will  be  found 
that  God  was  true  and  faithful  to  every  promise 
and  prediction.  His  conduct  towards  them,  not- 
withstanding their  rebellion  and  presumptuous 
wickedness,  was  marked  with  peculiar  kindness 
and  long-sufifering  mercy,  God  would  not  suffer 
his  great  name  to  be  polluted  and  profaned  with 
impunity;  he  therefore  visited  them  in  judgment, 
but  did  not  violate  his  holy  covenant.  That  this 
is  a  covenant  made  with  a  visible  community,  is 
evident  from  the  frequent  references  to  it.  Isaac 
and  Jacob  are  reminded  of  it.   The  Lord  appeared 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         23 

unto  Isaac,  and  said :  '  I  am  tlie  God  of  Abraham 
thy  father ;  fear  not,  for  I  am  with  thee,  and  will 
bless  thee,  and  multiply  thy  seed,  for  my  servant 
Abraham's  sake.'  The  Lord  also  said  to  Jacob : 
*  I  am  the  Lord  God  of  Abraham  thy  father,  and 
the  God  of  Isaac;  and  the  land  whereon  thou 
liest,  to  thee  will  I  give  it,  and  to  thy  seed.'  And 
to  Moses  the  Lord  said :  '  I  am  the  God  of  thy 
father,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac, 
and  the  God  of  Jacob.'  These  words  were  ad- 
dressed to  Moses  when  he  was  called  upon  to  go 
to  Pharoah,  and  plead  for  the  liberation  of  the 
children  of  Israel.  The  Lord  said  expressly  to 
Moses,  when  gi"VTLng  him  his  commission,  *  I  have 
seen  the  affliction  of  my  people  which  are  in 
Egypt.'  Does  not  God  call  them  his  people  in 
consequence  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant  ?  Zacha- 
rias,  the  father  of  John  the  Baptist,  praised  God 
when  he  saw  *  the  performance  of  the  mercy  pro- 
mised to  the  fathers,  and  that  God  remembered 
his  holy  covenant,  and  the  oath  which  he  sware  to 
our  father  Abraham.'  Hence  we  conclude  that  it 
was  a  gracious  covenant,  made  with  a  visible  com- 
munity through  Abraham,  as  their  representative. 
Again:  This  was  a  perpetual,  or  everlasting 
covenant.  The  term  everlasting  qualifies  this 
covenant.  It  no  doubt  conveys  the  idea  of  end- 
less duration.     The  literal  meaning  is  always  to 


24  THE    NATURE    OF 

be  preferred,  unless  it  involves  us  in  direct  ab- 
surdities and  insurmountable  difficulties.  But  the 
very  spirit  and  object  of  the  covenant  induce  tbe 
adoption  of  tbe  idea  of  endless  continuance.  If 
we  attach  a  limited  duration  to  this  covenant, 
Abraham  would  have  had  cause  to  fear,  if  not  for 
himself,  yet  certainty  for  his  posterity.  But  he 
was  commanded  not  to  fear :  *  Fear  not,  for  I  am 
your  shield,  and  exceeding  great  reward ;'  because 
this  covenant  secures  a  resurrection  from  the  dead, 
and  will  be  recognized  in  heaven.  This  idea  is 
confirmed  by  the  Saviour's  exposition,  when  an- 
swering the  cavils  of  the  Sadducees :  "  But,  as 
touching  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  have  ye 
not  read  that  which  was  spoken  unto  you  by  God, 
saying,  'I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of 
Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob  ?  God  is  not  the 
God  of  the  dead,  but  the  living.'  "  Abraham 
had  reason  to  believe  that  a  continuing  city  was 
prepared  for  his  reception,  even  an  eternal  in- 
heritance. To  limit  the  duration  of  this  covenant, 
is  to  suppose  that  God  will  cease  to  be  the  God 
of  Abraham  and  his  seed,  and  that  the  connection 
between  Christ  and  his  people  will  or  may  be 
dissolved ;  and  that  all  the  provisions,  encourage- 
ments, and  promises  of  grace,  secured  to  the  seed 
of  Abraham  in  this  covenant,  will  perish.  What 
can  be  more  derogatory  to  the  character  of  the 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVEXAXT.         25 

God  of  Abraham,  and  inconsistent  with  the  whole 
tenor  and  spirit  of  the  Bible  ? 

Again :  This  covenant  makes  provision  for  the 
adoption  of  others,  who  are  not  the  natural  seed 
of  Abraham :  '  In  thee  shall  all  the  families  of  the 
earth  be  blessed.'  Here  the  blessing  is  extended 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  Abraham's  natural  pos- 
terity. Through  the  Messiah,  the  promised  seed, 
it  extends  to  all  the  ends  of  the  earth :  *  Look 
unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth.'  By  faith  in  the  Saviour,  gentiles  become 
joint  heirs  to  this  eternal  inheritance :  *  If  ye  be 
Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs 
according  to  the  promise.'  Through  faith  and 
patience  we  may  inherit  the  promises.  The  door 
of  mercy  and  salvation  is  open,  in  the  covenant 
made  with  Abraham,  to  the  world  of  mankind. 
Any  stranger  that  was  not  of  his  seed,  and  so- 
journing with  him,  and  complying  with  the  con- 
ditions of  the  covenant,  mio-ht  be  circumcised,  and 
be  made  partaker  of  all  the  blessings  secured  to 
those  in  covenant.  We  are  divinely  informed  that 
Abraham  took  Ishmael,  his  son,  and  all  that  were 
born  in  his  house,  and  all  that  were  bought  with 
his  money,  every  male  among  the  men  of  Abra- 
ham's house,  and  circumcised  the  flesh  of  their 
foreskin  the  self-same  day,  as  God  had  said  unto 
him.     Hence  learn  the  extent  of  the  benevolence, 


26  THE    NATURE    OF 

and  the  divine  liberality  of  the  provisions  of  this 
covenant.  It  is  too  rich  to  be  a  *  land  contract/ 
It  promises  more  than  any,  except  a  God,  could 
perform. 

Again :  It  is  a  covenant,  in  which  all  the  bless- 
ings of  the  covenant  of  grace  were  promised  and 
secured,  by  the  counsel  and  oath  of  God,  to  the 
humble  and  sincere  penitent  who  depends  upon 
Christ  for  justification.  Abraham  had  the  pro- 
mise of  every  needed  blessing,  both  in  this  life 
and  in  that  which  is  to  come.  Everything  that 
was  necessary  to  his  salvation  was  insured  to  him 
by  the  promise  of  God :  *  God  willing  more  abun- 
dantly to  show  unto  the  heirs  of  promise  the  im- 
mutability of  his  counsel,  confirmed  it  by  an  oath.' 
For  his  consolation,  and  to  strengthen  his  faith, 
he  had  the  oath  of  that  God  who  cannot  lie.  The 
means  of  grace  were  insured  to  him  and  to  his 
seed,  the  heirs  of  promise.  By  their  covenant 
relation,  they  were  constituted  the  visible  objects 
of  all  the  blessings  of  the  divine  promise,  for  *  to 
them  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God.'  The 
law  and  circumcision,  of  themselves,  can  save  no 
one  from  deserved  condemnation;  yet  they  are 
the  appointed  means  of  grace.  They  had  the 
stated  ministry  of  the  priest :  *  The  priest's  lips 
should  keep  knowledge,  and  they  should  seek  the 
law  at  his  mouth ;  for  he  is  the  messenger  of  the 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENAXT.         27 

Lord  of  hosts.'     They  received  repeated  messages 
from   God  by  the  prophets,  entreating  them  to 
*  return  unto  the  Lord,  who  would  have  mercy 
upon  them,  and  to  our  God,  who  will  abundantly 
pardon,'      They  enjoyed  the  ordinances  of   the 
Temple  service  and   the   worship  of    God,   and 
'were  instructed  out  of   the  law.'      They  pos- 
sessed the  '  holy  Scriptures,  which  were  able  to 
make  them  wise  unto  salvation,'  through  faith  in 
a  promised  Saviour.     To  the  Israelites  '  pertaineth 
the  adoption,  and  the  glory,  and  the  covenants, 
and  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  the  service  of  God, 
and  the  promises.'     Their  being  in  the  covenant 
made  them  the  visible  objects  of  all  the  blessings 
of  divine  and  sovereign  grace.    One  of  the  grand, 
peculiar,  and  distinguished  promises  annexed  to 
this   covenant  was  the  promise  of   a  Saviour  to 
come,  who  should  redeem  his  people  from  their 
iniquities.      This  was  the  alpha  and  omega  of  the 
whole  covenant  transaction.    Through  the  medium 
of  this  covenant  the  Saviour  was  to  be  introduced 
into  this  world,  for  he  was  to  proceed  from  that 
part  of  the  posterity  of  Abraham  which  retained 
their  standing  in  the  visible  church. 

Here  two  questions  naturally  suggest   them- 
selves: 

1st.    If  the  Abrahamic  covenant  be  not  the 
3 


28  THE    NATURE    OP 

covenant  of  grace  to  eternal  life,  then  where  shall 
we  find  the  covenant  of  grace  ? 

To  this  I  answer,  the  covenant  of  grace  is  that 
agreement  which  took  place  in  the  counsel  of 
eternity  between  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit, 
concerning  the  redemption  of  the  church.  All 
God's  gracious  dealings  towards  his  creatures  are 
modifications  of  the  same  covenant,  and  intended 
to  accomplish  the  grand  object  contained  in  that 
covenant.  And  as  that  covenant  was  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  so  the  Abrahamic  covenant  was  a 
gracious  covenant,  and  was  peculiarly  calculated 
to  accomplish  the  gracious  purposes  of  God  in 
redeeming  his  church.  The  covenant  of  grace, 
or  redemption,  was  made  in  eternity  between  the 
three  persons  of  the  adorable  Trinity.  The  Abra- 
hamic covenant  was  one  of  the  grand  means  that 
God  appointed  and  ordained  to  accomplish  the 
designs  of  the  covenant  of  grace. 

We  are  in  the  next  place  led  to  inquire,  what  is 
meant  by  the  seal  of  this  covenant  ? 

It  is  a  token  or  mark  of  the  covenant.  *  And 
ye  shall  circumcise  the  flesh  of  your  foreskin,  and 
it  shall  be  a  token  of  the  covenant  between  me 
and  you.'  The  rainbow  was  a  sign  or  token  that 
God  had  established  his  covenant  with  Noah  and 
his  posterity,  and  a  standing  memorial  that  God 
would  no  more  overflow  the  earth  bv  a  flood. 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         29 

'  This  is  tlie  token  of  tlie  covenant  which  I  make 
between  me  and  you,  and  every  living  creature 
that  is  with  you,  for  perpetual  generations  :  I  do 
set  my  bow  in  the  cloud,  and  it  shall  be  for  a  to- 
ken of  a  covenant  between  me  and  the  earth.'  It 
was  the  token  of  a  covenant  already  in  existence. 
It  was  not  the  introduction  to  a  covenant,  but  the 
testimony  of  its  existence.  So  it  is  with  circum- 
cision: It  is  the  testimony,  seal,  or  token  of  a 
covenant  already  made. 

The  seal  of  the  covenant  is,  a  surety  that  every 
thing  contained  in  that  covenant  will  be  accom- 
plished or  performed.  All  parties  interested  in 
that  covenant  do  agree  that  they  will  perform 
everything  enjoined  upon  them  as  far  as  they  are 
able.  The  seal  is  a  testimony  of  this  agreement. 
Circumcision  is  a  seal  of  the  mutual  transaction, 
between  God  and  Abraham,  and  a  surety  that  the 
promises  of  God  to  Abraham  will  certainly  be 
fulfilled.  By  this  rite,  this  mutual  engagement  is 
sealed,  and  God  pledges  favors  and  blessings  to 
the  obedient,  and  Abraham  for  himself  and  his 
seed  engages  obedience,  and  hence  God  does  not 
hesitate  to  promise,  for  he  says,  '  I  know  him,  that 
he  will  command  his  children  and  his  household 
after  him,  and  they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the 
Lord,  to  do  justice  and  judgment ;  that  the  Lord 
may  bring  upon  Abraham  that  which  he  hath 


30  THE    KATURE    OF 

spoken  of  him.'  The  contract  is  first  made  and 
then  sealed. 

The  ordinances  of  the  chm-ch  were  for  the  most 
part  attended  with  the  shedding  of  blood  before 
the  gospel  dispensation  was  introduced.  Circum- 
cision was  intended  to  intimate  or  signify  the  en- 
tire corruption  of  the  human  heart,  which  must 
be  put  away.  It  was  a  painful  and  bloody  rite. 
The  mortification  of  sin  is  painful,  and  the  sancti- 
fication  of  our  nature  is  granted  to  sinners  only 
through  the  blood  of  Christ.  This  bloody  seal 
prefigures  the  blood  of  the  atonement,  and  the 
thing  signified  by  water  in  our  baptism  alludes  to 
the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus.  The  legiti- 
mate inference  is,  that  circumcision  and  baptism 
do  virtually  seal  and  ratify  the  same  thing. 
Hence  we  conclude  that  it  is  a  seal  on  the  part  of 
both  God  and  man.  God  promises  certain  things 
to  man,  if  he  is  obedient,  and  afi&xes  a  seal  or 
token  to  these  promises.  Man  embraces  the  oflfer 
and  engages  obedience,  and  receives  this  seal  or 
token,  and  by  it  binds  himself  the  more  strongly, 
and  by  this  pubhc  act  receives  God  as  his  God, 
and  the  God  of  his  seed  or  posterity. 

From  what  has  been  said  on  the  subject  of 
seals  we  are  clearly  taught  that  circumcision  is 
not  properly  the  rite  of  initiation  or  admission  into 
the  church :  but  it  is  the  visible  seal  of  our  church- 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         31 

membership.  Can  the  seal  or  token  of  a  cove- 
nant be  the  door  of  admission  into  that  covenant  ? 
It  may  be  the  visible  testimony  of  the  existence  of 
a  covenant ;  or  it  may  seal  or  ratify  a  visible  cov- 
enanted relation,  but  it  cannot  be  said  to  introduce 
or  initiate  us  into  that  covenant.  It  proves  our 
membership,  but  it  is  faith  that  constitutes  us 
members,  or  brings  us  into  immediate  union  with 
Christ,  the  great  head  of  the  church.  Was  it 
circumcision  or  faith  that  brought  Abraham  into  a 
covenant  relationship  to  God  ?  It  was  very  man- 
ifestly faith,  and  circumcision  was  a  seal  of  the 
righteousness  of  faith,  and  he  had  this  faith  while 
he  was  uncircumcised. 

II.  1  shall  now  attempt  to  prove  that  the  poster- 
ity of  Abraham,  or  the  children  of  believers,  are 
interested  in  this  covenant. 

They  are  born  in  covenant,  or  become  members, 
and  are  interested  in  it  by  birth.  'The  uncir- 
cumcised man-child,  whose  flesh  of  his  foreskin  is 
not  circumcised,  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  his 
people,  he  hath  broken  my  covenant.'  The  spirit 
of  this  passage  recognizes  children  as  in  covenant, 
although  they  may  be  uncu'cumcised,  for  how 
else  could  they  be  cut  off?  How  could  they 
break  a  covenant  in  which  they  were  in  no  sense 
connected  At  eight  days  old,  they  could  not 
cause  themselves  to  be  circumcised,  for  they  are 
3* 


32  THE    NATURE    OP 

incapable  of  the  necessary  physical  activity. 
They  could  not  give  any  evidence  of  saving  faith, 
and  yet  we  have  the  word  of  God  itself,  that  they 
are  in  covenant,  and  that  they  shall  be  cut  off  be- 
cause they  had  broken  covenant  in  that  they  were 
uncircumcised.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be  supposed 
that  the  child  will  be  cut  off,  or  actually  called  to 
an  account  before  the  church,  while  in  its  infancy, 
or  its  minority  before  it  shall  have  arrived  to  the 
years  of  discretion,  except  through  its  parents. 
But  could  the  child  be  said  to  be  cut  off  in  any 
sense,  if  no  covenant  relation  had  ever  existed  ? 
In  order  to  maintain  a  consistency,  we  must  admit 
that  the  child  was  born  in  covenant.  If  circum- 
cision be  neglected  in  infancy  through  the  neglect 
of  the  parent,  and  if  the  child,  when  it  arrives  to 
years  of  understanding,  does  not  acknowledge 
that  covenant,  and  receive  the  seal,  then  that 
child  '  is  to  be  cut  off  from  his  people ;  he  hath 
broken  my  covenant.'  And  this  violation  of  the 
covenant  is  a  joint  act  of  the  parent  and  the  child. 
Under  the  Jewish  dispensation,  the  children  of 
the  Jews  were  born  in  covenant,  and  it  was  the 
indispensable  duty  of  parents  to  place  the  seal  of 
the  covenant  upon  them.  For  neglecting  this 
duty,  the  pious  Moses  was  severely  rebuked. 
The  same  idea  of  membership  by  birth  is  distinctly 
brought  to  view  under  the  Christian  dispensation. 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         33 

*  The  unbelieving  husband  is  sanctified  by  the 
wife,  and  the  unbeheving  wife  is  sanctified  by  the 
husband:  else  were  your  children  unclean;  but 
now  are  they  holy.'  If  one  of  the  parents  be  a 
believer,  then  the  children  are  federally  holy. 
They  are  within  the  bonds  of  the  covenant.  *  If 
the  root  be  holy,  so  are  the  branches.'  In  the 
New  Testament  we  are  taught  that  if  the  parents 
are  in  covenant,  their  children  will  be  holy.  Can 
we  then,  in  any  possible  or  consistent  way,  shut 
the  children  of  believers  out  of  the  covenant  ? 
They  are  declared  to  be  holy,  if  but  one  of  their 
parents  is  a  believer.  By  the  term  holy  as  it  is 
used  in  this  place,  cannot  be  meant  perfect  free- 
dom from  sin  ;  for  all  are  *  shapen  in  iniquity,  and 
conceived  in  sin.'  The  children  of  believers  and 
unbelievers  must  aU,  without  exception,  put  off 
the  old  man  with  his  deeds.  By  being  holy  as  it 
is  here  used,  must  be  meant  that  they  are  fede- 
rally holy,  or  in  covenant.  We  cannot  consist- 
ently affix  any  other  meaning  to  the  term ;  and 
must  pronounce  the  children  of  those  in  cove- 
nant, in  some  limited  sense,  members  of  the 
church. 

Again,  they  are  members  according  to  the 
promise  of  God.  '  I  will  be  a  God  unto  thee,  and 
to  thy  seed  after  thee.'  The  covenant  is  definitely 
established  with  Abraham,  and  'his  seed  after 


34  THE   NATURE    OF 

him,  in  their  generations  for  an  everlasting  cove- 
nant/ "When  God  at  different  times,  and  to  sub- 
sequent generations,  renewed  this  covenant,  and 
promised  special  favors  to  his  people,  it  uniformly 
included  your  children,  your  seed,  and  your  little 
ones.  The  covenant  was  established,  or  made 
with  the  seed  of  Abraham,  as  well  as  with  Abra- 
ham. Who  has  any  right  to  exclude  one  party  of 
the  covenant,  simply  because^ they  cannot  speak 
for  themselves  ?  Or  who  has  any  right  to  alter 
the  conditions  of  the  covenant,  and  thus  exclude 
the  children  ? 

The  Lord,  when  addressing  Isaac,  says :  '  I  am 
the  God  of  Abraham  thy  father ;  fear  not,  for  I 
am  with  thee,  and  will  bless  thee,  and  multiply  thy 
seed  for  my  servant  Abraham's  sake.'  When 
Isaac  blessed  Jacob,  his  seed  was  included.  The 
blessing  of  Abraham  was  given  to  Jacob  and  his 
seed  with  him.  God  further  encourages  Jacob : 
*  In  thee,  and  in  thy  seed,  shall  the  families  of  the 
earth  be  blessed.  The  Lord  shall  increase  you  more 
and  more,  you  and  your  children.  And  they 
shall  dwell  in  the  land  that  I  have  given  unto 
Jacob  my  servant,  wherein  your  fathers  have 
dwelt :  and  they  shall  dwell  therein,  even  they  and 
their  children,  and  their  children's  children  for- 
ever.' God,  by  his  special  promise,  does  recog- 
nize children  as  interested  in  the  covenant  under 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COYENANT.         35 

the  Mosaic  or  Jewish  dispensation.  Who  dare 
disinherit  them  of  these  their  privileges  ?  Who 
is  so  presumptuous  and  cruel  as  to  take  from 
children  that  which  God  hath  given  to  them,  and 
thus  deprive  them  of  all  the  birthright  privileges 
resulting  from  their  covenant  relationship  to  their 
believing  parents  ?  Christ  and  his  holy  apostles 
have  not  cut  them  off.  Christ  says :  '  Suffer  the 
httle  children,  and  forbid  them  not  to  come  unto 
me,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  The 
apostles  have,  in  substance  and  in  spirit,  repeated 
the  promises  made  to  the  Jews,  as  if  they  were 
perfectly  applicable  to  Christians  under  the  gos- 
pel dispensation,  and  that,  too,  in  the  immediate 
view  of  the  prejudices  of  a  Jewish  education.  *  The 
promise  is  unto  you  and  your  children,'  was  then: 
declaration  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  Jews 
■were  congregated  from  almost  every  part  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  *  In  thy  seed  shall  the  kindreds 
of  the  earth  be  blessed.  If  ye  be  Christ's,  then 
are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heu's  according  to  the 
promise.'  Under  the  gospel  dispensation,  those 
'  who  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,'  did  depend  upon,  and  referred  us  all  to  the 
promises  made  to  Abraham.  How  then  can  we 
be  so  cruel  as  to  deprive  them  of  the  watch  and 
care  of  the  church  ?  God  has  not  cut  them  off 
by  any  precept  or  example  recorded  in  his  word. 


.36  THE   NATURE    OF 

and  why  should  we?  God  in  receiving  ns,  re- 
ceives them,  and  why  should  we  object  to  their 
reception?  I  do  not  know  that  they  are  more 
likely  to  bring  a  reproach  upon  the  cause  of  re- 
ligion than  we,  their  parents.  They  are,  with  us, 
parties  in  the  covenant,  and  what  right  have  we 
to  erase  their  names  ?  God  notices  them  notwith- 
standing their  infancy  and'  minority,  and  why 
should  not  we  ? 

Infer.  I.  From  our  subject  we  are  taught  that 
believers  or  those  in  covenant  are  bound  to  place 
the  seal  of  the  covenant  upon  their  children.  For 
the  neglect  of  this  duty  there  is  no  rational  or  con- 
sistent excuse.  A  neo-lect  of  it  does  not  lessen  or 
destroy  obhgation,  or  save  us  from  breaking  cov- 
enant. God  threatened  to  destroy  Moses  for  neg- 
lecting to  circumcise  his  son,  because  his  wife 
was  opposed  to  it.  He  was  compelled  to  stop  in 
the  midst  of  his  journey  and  attend  to  it.  Be- 
lievers are  solemnly  bound  by  covenant  to  place 
the  seal  upon  their  offspring  ;  and  when  they  neg- 
lect it,  they  only  perform,  one  half  of  their  vows, 
and  thus  exclude  their  children  from  a  participa- 
tion of  the  blessings  of  the  covenant.  To  urge 
parents  to  the  performance  of  this  duty,  God  has 
declared  his  intention  of  cutting  off  the  uncircum- 
cised  from  his  people,  as  having  broken  covenant. 
[Gen.  xvii.   14.]     A  neglect  of  this  duty  is  no 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COYENAXT.         37 

doubt,  one  reason  why  there  are  so  few  young 
members  in  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  may  here  be  asked,  whether  baptized  per- 
sons may  not  place  the  seal  upon  their  children, 
even  though  they  may  not  be  in  full  communion 
with  the  church  ;  for  I  am  born  a  member  of  the 
church,  and  have  received  the  seal  of  the  cov- 
enant. In  reply,  I  ask,  have  you  liberated  your 
parents  from  their  solemn  covenant  engagements 
for  you  ?  They  are  bound  for  you  still ;  for  you 
feel  yourselves  incapable  of  taking  these  baptismal 
vows  upon  yourselves.  Are  you,  then,  fit  to  en- 
gage for  your  children  ?  It  is  true  you  are  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  and  are  in  covenant  by  birth, 
but  have  you  ever  recognized  that  membership  by 
your  own  act  ?  Have  you  ever  come  forward  and 
performed  the  duties  of  members  ?  Or  have  you 
like  Esau,  despised  this  your  birthright  privilege  ? 
Your  parents  dedicated  you  to  God  under  the 
most  solemn  covenant  vows ;  but  have  you  ever 
dedicated  yourselves  to  God  ?  Have  you,  by  your 
conduct,  approved  and  sanctioned  what  your  pa- 
rents did  for  you  ?  If  through  a  want  of  faith 
and  confidence  in  the  divine  promise,  you  feel  un- 
willing or  incapacitated  to  take  your  baptismal 
vows  upon  yourselves,  and  thus  sweetly  and  joy- 
fully relieve  your  parents,  are  you  not  equally  in- 
capable and  unfit  to  enter  into  solemn  covenant  for 


38  THE    NATUKE    OF 

your  children  ?  Does  it  not  require  tlie  same  ex- 
ercise of  faith  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other  ?  In 
fact,  you  have  broken  covenant.  The  neglect  of 
the  church  to  watch  over  you,  may  have  been  one 
of  the  means  that  has  led  you  to  break  covenant ; 
but  this  will  not  excuse  you  for  the  omission  of 
duty  when  we  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
Jesus  Christ.  It  was  your  duty  to  profess  your 
faith  in  Christ,  and  enter  publicly  into  covenant 
with  God  long  ere  this  day.  It  was  the  duty  of 
the  church  to  watch  over  you,  and  entreat  and 
exhort  you  to  immediate  repentance ;  and  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  church  to  give  you  no  peace,  or 
rest,  as  long  as  you  lived  in  the  violation  of  your 
covenant ;  but  since  the  church  has  neglected  her 
duty,  yet  the  word  of  God  and  his  providences, 
which  you  have  daily  seen,  have  been  abundantly 
sufficient  to  direct  you  to  Christ  as  ycfur  only  Re- 
deemer and  Saviour.  If  you  hope  that  you  have 
indeed  met  with  a  change,  and  have  in  penitence 
and  faith  received  Christ  as  your  only  ground  of 
justification  before  God,  how  dare  you  continue  in 
the  violation  of  covenant  engagements  a  single 
day  ?  You  have  one  of  the  seals  of  visible  mem- 
bership placed  upon  you,  and  are  you  afraid,  that 
in  receiving  the  other  sealing  ordinance,  you  will 
through  the  deceitfulness  of  your  wicked  heart 
again  break  covenant  ?     So,  then,  you  are  really 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         39 

afraid  to  trust  yourselves  in  the  hands  of  a  cove- 
nant-keeping God?  How,  then,  can  or  dare  you  give 
your  children  to  God  ?  Will  you  put  your  children 
where  you  dare  not  trust  yourselves  ?  But  look 
at  this  matter  in  another  point  of  view.  You  are 
now  living  in  violation  of  the  covenant ;  you  are 
solemnly  and  divinely  called  upon  to  make  to  your- 
selves a  new  heart,  and  immediately  to  repent ; 
and  you  are  called  upon  to  do  it,  that  the  covenant 
may  be  established  with  your  children,  and  that 
the  rich  blessings  of  salvation  may  be  entailed 
upon  your  children's  children.  If  you  have  brok- 
en covenant,  is  there  any  propriety  in  placing  the 
seal  upon  your  children  ?  Thus,  in  breaking  cove- 
nant yourselves,  and  in  neglecting  to  liberate  your 
parents  from  their  covenant  engagements  in  your 
behalf,  and  omitting  to  profess  your  faith  in  Christ, 
you  are  instrumental  in  depriving  your  children  of 
the  richest  covenanted  blessings :  you  break  cove- 
nant ;  you  keep  them  out  of  the  shade  of  the  cov- 
enant, and  you  arrest  the  regular  descent  of  the 
blessing  from  generation  to  generation.  The 
church  are  ready  and  willing  to  receive  you  accord- 
ing to  the  terms  of  the  gospel,  and  the  conditions 
of  the  covenant ;  they  are  anxiously  and  prayer- 
fully waiting  for  it.  I  confess  that  the  church, 
except  in  a  very  few  instances,  have  been  greatly 
to  blame  in  not  recognizing  your  covenant  relation- 
4 


40  THE    NATURE    OV 

ship ;  but  I  do  hope  and  trust  the  time  will  soon 
arrive,  when  she  will  be  more  faithful  to  her  in- 
fant members,  and  take  better  care  of  her  young 
and  tender  lambs ;  and  that  she  will  in  due  time 
receive  all  those  in  the  covenant,  by  birthright  or 
otherwise,  into  a  full  communion,  or  cut  them  off 
by  a  gospel  or  special  act,  after  a  fair  and  impar- 
tial trial.  Then  shall  we  be  delivered  from  many 
difficulties:  for  we  shall  see  our  children  and 
youth  uniting  with  their  fathers  and  mothers  in 
Israel  in  commemorating  the  love  of  our  dear  Re- 
deemer. A  greater  proportion  of  our  members 
would  be  collected  from  among  our  children  and 
youth.  All  our  churches  would  thrive  and  flour- 
ish more  rapidly ;  and  \ace  and  in  fidelity  would  be 
compelled  to  hide  their  heads  in  confusion.  If 
the  churches  and  if  parents  would  be  faithful  to 
the  souls  committed  to  their  care,  we  should  have 
reason  to  calculate  upon  a  continued  blessing,  and 
a  perpetual  revival.  Our  children  and  youth 
would  not  only  approve  and  sanction  what  their 
parents  did  for  them,  by  professing  their  faith  in 
Christ,  but  also  feel  grateful  that  their  parents,  by 
placing  the  seal  of  the  covenant  upon  them,  did 
put  them  in  the  way  to  receive  the  blessing. 

Infer.  II.  If  baptized  children  are,  in  any  sense, 
members  of  the  church,  then  how  awfully  defi- 
cient are  all  our  churches  in  their  duty  to  their 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         41 

children !  As  baptism  is  a  seal  belonging  to  the 
church  of  Christ,  and  is  a  seal  of  the  righteousness 
of  faith,  so  it  certainly  implies  some  relationship 
between  the  church  and  the  subject  to  whom  it  is 
applied.  If  they  are  not  members  by  birth,  nor 
by  expressed  condition  or  promise,  as  parties  in 
the  covenant,  yet  their  being  circumcised  under 
the  Old,  and  baptized  under  the  New  Testament 
dispensation,  is  an  evidence  of  their  membership 
in  some  sense  or  another  ;  or  else  it  is  a  seal  that 
seals  nothing,  and  that  evidences  or  confirms  noth- 
ing, and  therefore  is  now,  and  always  has  been, 
an  useless  and  unmeaning  ceremony.  And  dare 
we  indulge  the  thought  that  the  great  Head  of  the 
church  would  introduce  an  unmeaning  ceremony, 
and  then  call  it  the  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith. 
A  great  proportion  of  baptized  children  are  run- 
ning at  random,  and  we  take  no  more  care  of  them 
as  related  to  the  church  than  we  do  of  any  other 
children.  How  many  of  them  have  been  solemnly 
and  affectionately  informed  of  their  relation  to  the 
church  ?  Yea,  although  they  have  received  that 
very  seal,  which  is  by  some  called  the  initiating 
ordinance  into  the  church,  and  by  all  is  recognized 
as  constituting  some  relationship  to  the  church, 
yet  even  that  relationship  is  not  practically  recog- 
nized :  we  appear  unwilling  to  own  them  as  the 
lambs  of  the  flock ;  we  exercise  no  discipline  over 


42  THE   NATURE    OF 

them ;  do  not  very  often  make  them  the  subjects 
of  special  prayer.  'No  wonder  there  is  so  much 
difficulty  and  division  about  the  proper  subjects  of 
baptism.  Parental  and  ecclesiastical  unfaithful- 
ness and  neglect  of  duty  will  invariably  involve  us 
in  this  kind  of  trouble.  The  longer  duty  is  neg- 
lected, the  more  difficult  will  it  be  for  us  to  return 
to  it.  The  unfaithfulness  of  those  churches  and 
parents,  who  practice  infant  baptism,  have  in- 
duced many  to  question  the  propriety  of  the  prac- 
tice. When  they  perceive  such  a  great  propor- 
tion of  those,  who  are  some  way  related  to  the 
church,  almost  entirely  neglected  in  their  religious 
education,  they  are  ready  to  conclude  that  bap- 
tism is  nothing ;  but  this  conclusion  is  so  glaringly 
absurd  and  unscriptural,  that  they  persuade  them- 
selves that  infants  are  not  the  proper  subjects  of 
baptism,  and  of  course  not  fit  subjects  of  promise. 
Now  if  we  were  as  a  church  faithful  to  command 
our  children  and  our  household  after  us,  we  should 
soon  have  our  numbers  and  graces  increased  ;  all 
difficulties  on  this  subject  would  speedily  disap- 
pear, and  God  would  be  glorified  in  the  midst  of 
us.  Our  dear  children  and  youth  are  too  much 
neglected  in  this  gospel  land.  And  I  do  sincerely 
pray  that  Infinite  Wisdom  would  speedily  direct  us 
to  a  method  that  would  remedy  this  awfully  in- 
creasing evil.    May  the  Holy  Spirit  operate  upon 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         43 

all  our  hearts  in  such  a  manner  that  the  church 
and  every  Christian  parent  will  be  constrained  so 
to  pray,  so  to  live,  and  so  to  educate  their  children, 
that  there  may  be  a  thorough  reformation. 

Infer.  III.  Christian  parents  may  experience 
much  comfort  where  churches  are  faithful  in 
the  discharge  of  their  duties  to  their  baptized 
children.  When  parents  are  called  to  bid  an 
eternal  adieu  to  all  terrestrial  things,  and  leave 
behind  them  a  young  family,  how  consoling  the 
thought  that  they  are  subject  to  the  ,watch  and 
special  care  of  the  church  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ !  Their  orphan  children  find  in  the  church 
a  parent,  and  a  friend  to  direct  their  steps,  when 
their  earthly  parent  and  guide  is  no  more.  When 
they  are  incapable  of  directing  their  own  best 
mode  of  conduct ;  and  when  their  nearest  and 
dearest  earthly  friends  forsake  them — then  the 
church  appears  as  a  very  present  help  in  trouble, 
and  takes  them  affectionately  by  the  hand,  and 
leads  them  to  the  Lamb  of  Calvary.  The  pious 
parent  dies,  and  leaves  his  dear  children  under 
the  care  of  the  church,  well  persuaded  that  they 
will  be  carefully  educated  for  heaven.  The  church 
will  adopt  these  orphans  as  their  own  children, 
and  teach  them  how  to  think  and  act  for  eternity. 
As  they  are  the  children  of  the  covenant,  they 
will  be  the  special  subjects  of  their  prayers.  And 
4* 


.44  THE   NATURE    OF 

what  can  be  more  comfortmg  to  a  pious  parent  in 
the  near  approach  of  death?  It  will  greatly 
mitigate  the  parting  struggle,  when  he  sees  his 
children  provided  for,  as  it  respects  their  education 
for  eternity.  But  on  the  contrary,  how  distressing 
and  harassing  the  reflection  to  a  pious  parent — 
*  I  am  about  to  leave  a  young  family,  with  none 
sufficiently  interested  to  pray  for  them,  and  to 
direct  them  in  the  path  of  piety  and  virtue ;  they 
are  to  receive  the  first  rudiments  of  their  education 
from  the  example  and  precepts  of  a  wicked  world 
— none  truly  interested  in  their  spiritual  welfare, 
none  engaged  to  pray  for  and  with  them,  and 
to  watch  over  them,  and  in  parental  love  and 
tenderness  to  reprove  them  for  their  follies. 
What  a  heart-rending  thought  to  an  aflfectionate 
and  pious  parent !  Hence  we  are  clearly  taught 
that  our  unfaithfulness  deprives  us  of  much  of 
the  comfort  of  religion  which  we  might  otherwise 
enjoy.  We  attend  so  little  to  the  active  and 
every-day  duties  of  religion,  that  we  are  almost 
strangers  to  near,  sweet,  and  frequent  communion 
with  God.  If  we  are  unfaithful,  our  children  are 
deprived  of  much  good  instruction,  and  the  ben- 
efits of  a  pious  example.  We  are  also  deprived 
of  that  satisfaction  and  peace  of  mind  which 
legitimately  results  from  a  faithful  and  conscien- 
tious discharge   of  duty ;  we  feel  the  pain  and 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         45 

agony  of  soul  arising  from  the  conduct  of  dis- 
obedient children ;  for  being  destitute  of  the  re- 
straints of  a  pious  education  and  wholesome 
discipHne,  they  naturally  relapse  into  a  course  of 
conduct  which  causes  the  pious  heart  to  bleed. 
Faithful  parental  discipline,  with  a  careful  and 
prayerful  observance  of  the  conditions  of  the  cove- 
nant, will  insure  to  our  children  the  covenant 
blessing  of  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  our  chil- 
dren will  use  it  and  bless  our  memories. 

Infer.  lY.  If  we  are  made  the  visible  objects  of 
so  many  of  the  means  of  grace,  by  being  in  cove- 
nant, how  great  are  our  obligations  to  God,  and 
how  blameworthy  if  we  misimprove  them  !  God 
has  withheld  nothing  from  us  that  was  necessary 
for  our  salvation,  and  the  eternal  welfare  of  our 
posterity.  Our  dear  children  are  made  as  fit 
subjects  of  promise  as  we  are,  for  both  are  in- 
cluded in  the  same  covenant.  The  seal  of  the 
covenant  is  placed  upon  them,  and  an  invaluable 
blessing  secured  to  the  humble  penitent  by  the 
express  promise  and  oath  of  God.  Parents  may 
carry  their  dear  children  to  God,  and  ask  his 
covenant  blessing  upon  them.  O  what  a  rich  and 
glorious  privilege  !  What  an  unspeakable  favor  ! 
Yea,  you  may  carry  your  children,  even  your 
little  children  to  Jesus,  and  he  will  not  turn  you 
away  empty.     He  will  welcome  you,  and  take 


46  THE    NATURE    OF 

those  cHldren  in  his  arms,  and  bless  them.  If 
you  give  them  to  him  in  covenant,  he  will  take 
infinitely  better  care  of  them  than  you  can.  He 
■will  remove  all  their  spiritual  maladies,  and  pre- 
pare them  for  a  seat  at  his  right  hand  in  the  king- 
dom of  glory.  Here,  then,  is  an  opportunity  for 
every  parent  to  secure  for  their  children  a  rich 
legacy ;  a  legacy  that  may  be  entailed  to  chil- 
dren's children  down  to  the  Millennium.  How 
highly  should  we  all  prize  such  a  privilege !  How 
dihgently  improve  it !  Through  this  same  covenant 
the  door  of  mercy  is  opened  to  all  the  families  of 
the  earth,  so  that  'whosoever  will  may  take  of 
the  water  of  life  freely.'  Unfaithful  and  wicked 
parents  shut  the  door,  and  thus  prevent  their  chil- 
dren from  entering  into  the  marriage  supper  of 
the  Lamb.  Dare  we  trifle  with  such  blessings  ? 
Shall  we  neglect  such  privileges,  and  thus  peril 
the  salvation  of  our  own  souls  and  that  of  our 
children  ?  Shall  we  break  covenant  ourselves, 
and  encourage  our  children  in  the  wicked  and 
rebellious  course  ?  Remember,  your  children 
are  interested  in  all  your  conduct,  for  you  are 
their  example.  You  can  insure  to  them  a  rich 
blessing.  You  may  entail  upon  them  a  legacy  of 
infinite  more  intrinsic  worth  than  the  most  splen- 
did patrimony  any  child  ever  received  from  an 
earthly   parent.     By  complying  with  the   con- 


THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.         47 

ditions  of  this  covenant,  you  liave  a  grand  oppor- 
tunity to  enrich  your  children  for  eternity,  and 
contribute  largely  towards  the  redemption  of  the 
world.  I  would  give  more  for  the  paternal  bene- 
diction of  an  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  the  covenant 
blessing  of  the  God  of  Abraham,  than  for  all  the 
riches  of  the  world  without  those  covenanted 
blessings.  How  infinitely  great  will  be  our  guilt 
if  we  neglect  such  an  opportunity  to  secure  the 
richest  possible  blessing  for  our  children  ! 

Infer.  Y.  We  may  learn  from  this  subject  that 
a  strict  conformity  to  the  conditions  of  the  cove- 
nant will  instrumentally  insure  the  conversion  of 
our  children.  God  is  true  to  his  promise ;  and 
when  he  said  he  would  be  a  God  to  Abraham  and 
his  seed,  he  meant  what  he  said,  and  he  intends  to 
do  so,  and  he  has  done  what  was  implied  in  that 
promise.  *  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should 
go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it.' 
There  is  no  exception  to  this  rule,  and  there  can 
be  none  as  long  as  God  remains  true  to  his  word. 
Fidelity  on  the  part  of  parents  will  prevent  a  cold 
and  dull  formality  in  religion  ;  for  the  practice  of 
penitence,  candor,  humility  and  sincerity  will  frown 
upon  all  hypocrisy  in  their  children.  Such  an  ex- 
ample will  render  formality  and  hypocrisy  unfash- 
ionable in  the  domestic  circle.  Then  shall  we 
realize  the  fulfilment  of  that  promise :  *  Out  of 


48  THE    NATURE,    &C. 

the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings  hast  thou 
ordained  strength.'  Our  children  being  under 
the  continued  influence  of  a  pious  example,  every 
thing  will  naturally  contribute  to  bring  them  to 
the  foot  of  the  cross  ;  and  the  whole  church  be- 
ing pledged  to  pray  for  them,  and  feeling,  with 
the  parent,  responsible  for  their  religious  instruc- 
tion, there  can  be  nothing  to  hinder  their  lisping 
forth  the  praises  of  the  dear  Redeemer  in  their 
youth.  It  ought  to  be  the  highest  ambition  of 
every  Christian  parent  to  secure  by  every  possible 
means  the  early  conversion  of  their  children.  It 
gives  them  an  extended  opportunity  for  doing 
good :  they  have  a  proportionably  longer  time  to 
be  workers  together  with  God  in  converting  the 
world.  Besides,  their  early  conversion  will  save 
them  many  achings  of  heart,  and  add  greatly  to 
the  happiness  of  both  parents  and  children. 


CHAPTER   11. 


"  And  if  some  of  the  branches  be  broken  off,  and  thon,  being  a  wild 
olive  tree,  were  grafted  in  among  them,  and  with  them  partakest  of  the 
root  and  fatness  of  the  olive  tree  ;  boast  not  against  the  branches.  But 
if  thou  boast,  thou  bearest  not  the  root,  but  the  root  thee." 

EoM.  xu  17,  18. 


In  eyefy  age  of  the  world  there  liave  always 
existed  *  some  of  the  true  worshippers  of  God, 
and  thus  a  remnant  according  to  the  election  hath 
always  been  preserved.  There  have  been  great 
and  desolating  declensions  in  the  church,  so  that 
sometimes  scarcely  a  vestige  of  vital  piety  could 
be  discovered ;  but  still  the  continued  existence 
of  the  church,  and  the  revivals  of  rehgion  with 
which  she  has  been  favored  in  eveiy  age,  are  de- 
cided evidences  that  this  remnant  has,  at  no  time, 
become  entirely  extinct.  Vital  religion  had  got 
to  a  very  low  ebb  at  the  time  of  our  Saviour's 
advent,  even  so  low  that  men  in  the  bosom  of  the 
church  were  his  principal  persecutors,  and  his 
most  inveterate  enemies.    The  Jews,  to  whom  he 


■  50  THE    ONENESS    OF   THE 

was  specially  sent,  and  to  whom  he  directed  his 
particular  attention,  and  who  enjoyed  the  peculiar 
benefits  of  his  labors,  and  who  were  in  fellowship 
with  him  in  the  same  church,  were  so  filled  with 
infidehty  that  Christ  himself  marvelled  at  their 
unb  ehef .  ^Notwithstanding  this  low  state  of  re- 
i  gion,  the  remnant  of  true  piety  was  found  in  this 
very  church.  The  Jews,  as  a  nation,  and  as  the 
peculiar  people  of  God,  had  become  awfully  cor- 
rupt ;  but  they  rigidly  regarded  the  external  forms 
of  their  religion,  although  there  was  very  little  of 
true  piety  among  them.  All  that  were  truly  pious 
received  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  and  many  of  their 
number  were  converted  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  yet  as  a  nation  they  were 
•cut  off  on  account  of  their  unbeUef. 

In  the  text  we  are  explicitly  informed  that 
some* of  the  branches  were  broken  off.  The  Jews, 
for  their  infidelity,  were  separated  from  the  good 
olive  tree,  or  the  true  church  of  God,  and  could 
no  longer  be  partakers  of  the  root  and  fatness  of 
the  olive  tree.  Some  belonging  to  the  wild  olive 
tree  were  grafted  into  the  good  olive  tree.  These 
were  the  believing  gentiles,  as  you  will  find  by 
examining  the  text  and  context.  They  were  graft- 
ed into  that  good  olive  tree  from  which  the  unbe- 
lieving Jews  were  broken  off.  Those  who  were 
grafted  mto  this  good  oUve  tree,  in  the  place  of 


JE-WISH    AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH,  51 

those  who  were  broken  off,  do  partake  of  the  root 
and  fatness  of  that  good  olive  tree ;  thej  partake 
of  all  the  promises  and  privileges,  the  graces  and 
ordinances,  and  the  spiritual  blessings  and  benefits 
which  belonged,  by  covenant,  to  Abraham  and 
his  seed. 

DocT.  God  has  but  one  church  in  the  world, 
or  the  Jewish  and  Christian  church  are  essentially 
and  radicallij  the  same  under  two  different  dispen- 
sations. 

I.  This  doctrine  is  proved  from  the  oneness  of 
the  divine  character.  He  is  the  unchangeable 
God.  That  which  was  right  in  itself,  in  the  view 
of  God,  in  one  age  of  the  world,  will  be  right  in 
every  age,  although  God,  as  a  sovereign,  may 
have  different  ways  of  communicating  and  exhib- 
iting truth.  God  prescribed  a  particular  way  for 
sinners  to  approach  into  his  presence,  and  acknow- 
ledg^e  their  submission  to  him  under  the  Mosaic 
dispensation.  The  appointment  of  these  peculiar 
and  special  rites  and  ceremonies  was  an  act  of 
divine  sovereignty,  and  was  peculiarly  calculated 
for  the  pupilage  of  mankind  in  that  age  of  the 
world.  It  was  suited  to  the  genius  and  capacity 
of  men  as  just  emerged  from  a  state  of  idolatry, 
and  operated  as  a  schoolmaster  to  biing  them  to 
Christ,  for  Jesus  Christ  has  always  been  the  cen- 
tre of  attraction  in  the  church. ever  since  its  orgran- 


.52  THE    ONENESS    OF    THE 

ization,  and  the  alpha  and  omega  of  all  our  hopes 
of  salvation,  for  he  is  revealed  as  the  '  Lamb  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.' 

It  is  a  fact  that  there  was  a  church  organized 
and  estabhshed  in  the  world  long  before  the  ad- 
vent of  the  Messiah.  There  are  different  opinions 
as  to  the  time  when  this  church  was  established. 
It  is  thought  by  many,  and  not  without  reason, 
that  the  church  was  first  organized  and  established 
immediately  after  the  fall  of  man.  This  much  is 
certain,  that  the  covenant  of  grace  in  its  spirit  and 
efficacy  was  revealed  to  man  a  long  time  previous 
to  the  call  of  Abraham,  for  it  would  be  uncharita- 
ble to  suppose  that  all  were  lost  previous  to  that 
time,  especially  as  the  promise  of  a  Saviour  was 
revealed  to  our  first  parents  immediately  after  the 
fall.  Besides,  the  sacrificial  economy  was  in  use 
in  the  family  of  our  first  parents  ;  and  we  cannot 
suppose  that  such  a  method  of  worship  was  intro- 
duced without  divine  authority.  We  have  there- 
fore some  reason  to  believe  the  existence  of  the 
visible  church  in  the  earliest  ages  of  the  world. 

The  visible  church  embraces  all  in  every  part 
of  the  world  who  profess  to  be  the  people  of  God. 
This  visible  church  was  first  publicly  organized  in 
the  family  of  Abraham.  All  who  were  included 
in  that  covenant  made  with  Abraham  belong  to 
the  visible  church,  and  are  entitled  to  all  the 


JEWISH    AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  53 

privileges  of  members  as  soon  as  they  comply 
with  the  stipulations  contained  in  that  covenant. 
All  the  Israelites  belonged  to  the  visible  church, 
and  hence  it  is  said  Moses  was  in  the  church  in 
the  wilderness.  Under  the  gospel  dispensation 
professing  Christians  constitute  the  visible  church. 
All  particular  churches  in  every  country,  and 
among  all  denominations,  who  are  organized  ac- 
cording to  the  constitution  and  rules  of  the  Bible 
in  those  essential  doctrines  which  are  the  life  and 
support  of  all  "vdtal  piety,  are  parts  of  Christ's 
visible  church,  or  family  on  earth.  If  there  be  a 
difference  in  their  modes  of  worship,  and  in  some 
doctrines  not  essential  to  salvation,  yet  this  will 
not  destroy  the  oneness  of  the  church.  It  will 
still  continue  to  be  one  great  whole,  and  in  the 
final  day  of  accounts  we  shall  all  mutually  feel  a 
perfect  willingness  and  pleasure  in  confessing  all 
our  former  errors,  and  in  embracing  one  common 
Saviour  as  the  Lord  our  rio-hteousness  and  salva- 
tion.  The  Jews  did  pubHcly  profess  to  be  the 
real  people  of  God  ;  and  it  is  a  solemn  truth  God 
did  recognize  them  to  be  his  pecuHar  and  chosen 
people.  His  divine  and  fatherly  care  was  con- 
stantly exercised  towards  them  for  their  protection 
and  preservation.  Though  He  did  '  visit  their 
transgressions  with  a  rod,  and  their  iniquity  with 
stripes,  yet   his   loving   kindness   he  would   not 


54  THE    ONENESS    OF    THE 

"Utterly  take  from  them,  nor  suffer  his  faithfulness 
to  fail.' 

Since  the  advent  of  the  Saviour,  Christians  do 
profess  to  be  the  real  people  of  God.  It  is  also 
true  that  God  recognizes  them  to  be  his  cove- 
nanted people.  *  He  leads  them  beside  the  still 
waters,  and  makes  them  to  lie  down  in  green  pas- 
tures.' He  engages  *to  be  with  them  always, 
even  to  the  end  of  the  world ;  to  keep  them  by  his 
power  through  faith  unto  salvation ;'  that  *  they 
shall  want  no  good  thing  ;'  and  that  '  all  things 
shall  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love 
God.'  Both  then  profess  to  belong  to  the  true 
church,  and  both  are  recognized  as  such  by  God 
himself.  Those  Jews  who  were  in  reality  what 
they  professed  to  be  under  the  former  dispensa- 
tion were  as  much  indebted  for  their  salvation  to 
the  efficacy  of  the  atonement  as  the  sincere  Chris- 
tian is  under  the  present  dispensation.  And  there 
were  some  among  them  who  continued  truly  devot- 
ed to  God  until  the  advent  and  death  of  the 
Saviour.  But  those  Jews  who  rejected  the  Saviour 
were  broken  off  from  their  visible  relationship  to  the 
church,  because  of  their  unbelief ;  whereas,  those 
Jews  who  professed  cordially  to  receive  the  Mes- 
siah, still  continued  in  the  visible  church,  and  the 
the  converted  and  believing  Gentiles  were  grafted 
in  among  them,  and  thus  the  believing  Jews  and 


JEWISH    AND    CHRISTIAN   CHURCH.  55 

Gentiles  were  united  in  one  body.  The  Jews  ac- 
cording to  the  uniform  usages  of  the  church 
brought  their  children  with  them,  and  were  the 
children  of  the  converted  Gentiles  to  be  left  be- 
hind ?  The  chief  difference  in  the  church  under 
the  Abrahamic  or  Mosaic  and  Christian  dispensa- 
tion, consists  in  external  rites,  forms,  and  modes 
of  instruction  and  worship  arising  wholly  from  the 
diflferent  circumstances  under  which  they  were 
placed.  God  saw  proper  to  reveal  the  doctrines 
of  atonement,  and  the  mediation  of  a  Saviour, 
more  obscurely  and  yet  by  visible  objects,  as  being 
more  adapted  to  their  capacity  in  that  they  had 
just  emerged  from  idolatry,  under  the  ancient, 
than  under  the  gospel  dispensation.  They  re- 
ceived their  instruction  through  the  medium  of 
types  and  emblems  which  '  shadowed  forth  good 
things  to  come.'  Now  these  very  same  truths  are 
more  clearly  revealed  in  an  entirely  different  mode, 
and  by  diflferent  forms  of  worship  and  instruc- 
tion, so  that  there  is  no  necessity  for  the  continu- 
ance of  those  burdensome  institutions  and  bloody 
rites.  To  suppose  that  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
church  are  essentially  and  radically  diflferent  is  as 
unreasonable  as  to  suppose  that  a  man,  in  his 
maturity,  is  not  the  same  person  he  was  when  a 
child.  When  a  child  he  had  far  less  knowledge,  and 
was  instructed  in  a  different  manner  from  what  he 
5* 


56  THE    ONENESS    OF    THE 

is  in  maturity,  and  yet  it  is  the  same  person  and 
the  same  church,  and  has  the  same  unchangeable 
God  for  its  author  or  head.  The  Jewish  church 
was  Hke  a  child  under  tutors  and  governors,  and 
the  Christian  church  like  a  son  more  matured,  and 
an  heir  of  God  nearer  its  inheritance  through 
Jesus  Christ.  The  one  was  in  her  pupilage,  the 
other  in  her  maturity.  As  the  one  only  true  God 
is  the  author  of  both,  so  each  must  be  the  true 
church.  For  we  cannot  suppose  that  God  would 
organize  any  thing  but  the  true  church.  The 
circumstances  attending  the  organization  or  rather 
re-organization  of  the  church  at  the  moment  of 
the  solemn  transaction,  are  proof  of  the  unity  of 
the  church.  The  passover  was  the  most  solemn 
and  significant  feast  under  the  Jewish  dispensa- 
tion. Christ  was  always  present  at  that  feast. 
At  the  last  passover  that  he  attended,  he  insti- 
tuted the  gospel  passover,  in  which  he  recognized 
•himself  as  the  atoning  lamb ;  for  taking^  the  bread 
and  breaking  it,  he  said,  *Take,  eat,  this  is  my 
body  broken  for  sin.'  This  was  the  very  moment 
when  the  church  of  God  was  re-organized  ilnder 
the  Christian  dispensation.  They  did  not  leave 
the  room,  but  while  they  were  commemorating 
the  love  of  God  in  their  emancipation  from  Egyp- 
tian bondage,  in  eating  the  passover  lamb,  which 
typically  directed  their  minds  to  the  Saviour  of 


JEWISH    AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  57 

sinners,  how  easy  and  natural  this  transition  from 
the  Jewish  to  the  Christian  church !  The  parts  of 
the  lamb  were  laid  aside,  or  all  consumed,  and  the 
bread,  a  part  of  the  sacrificial  supper,  is  used  by 
the  Saviour  as  the  symbol  of  his  body,  and  the 
wine,  for  wine  was  always  used  at  the  passover, 
as  the  symbol  of  his  blood.  Here  we  see  by  his 
official  act,  as  high-priest,  the  Jewish  passover  is 
superseded  by  the  gospel  passover,  himself  being 
the  paschal  lamb.  The  Jewish  church  so  runs 
into  the  gospel  church,  and  becomes  so  complete- 
ly amalgamated  with  it,,  that  an  inspired  apostle 
hath  said,  'If  ye  be  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abra- 
ham's seed,  and  heirs  according  to  the  promise.' 
They  were  all  members  of  the  Jewish  church  when 
they  sat  down  to  the  paschal  supper,  and  arose 
members  of  the  gospel  or  Christian  church.  This 
is  all  the  organization  or  re-organization  of  the 
church  under  the  gospel  dispensation  that  is  left 
on  divine  record.  Christ  organized  the  church 
before  he  Avas  even  falsely  proved  an  impostor, 
while  he  was  a  regular  member  of  the  church, 
and  before  he  or  his  disciples  were  turned  out  of 
the  synagogue,  if  they  were  ever  turned  out. 
Here  was  the  very  organization  of  the  Christian 
church,  and  organized  by  regular  members  of  the 
Jewish  church,  and  organized  in  such  a  way  as 
to  entail  all  the  promises  upon,  the  church  of  God. 


58  THE    ONENESS    OF   THE 

We  never  learn  that  the  apostles,  after  this  mem- 
orable night,  ever  met  with  the  Jews  at  their  pass- 
over  feast.  They  let  go  of  the  shadow  for  the 
reality ;  they  let  go  the  type  that  they  might  re- 
ceive and  enjoy  the  antetype.  May  not  the  divine 
hand  be  distinctly  recognized  in  all  this  solemn 
and  deeply  interesting  transaction  ?  Here  we  see 
how  wonderfully  and  mysteriously  the  Jewish 
church  is  swallowed  up  in  the  Christian,  or  how 
they  both  become,  in  the  estimation  of  the  truly 
pious,  and  according  to  the  providential  dealings 
of  God  towards  each,  amalgamated  or  united  into 
one.  They  must  therefore  be  one,  for  there  is  but 
one  God,  and  one  way  of  salvation,  and  that  is 
through  the  mediation  and  intefcession  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

To  suppose  the  Jewish  and  Christian  church 
essentially  and  radically  different,  or  to  be  two 
distinct  churches,  is  highly  derogatory  to  the  di- 
vine character.  It  supposes  God  to  be  change- 
able and  imperfect,  and  limited  in  his  calculations. 
It  implies  a  censure  on  his  conduct  towards  the 
Jews,  for  He  gave  them  to  understand  that  they 
were  the  true  church.  It  also  implies  that  the 
groundwork  of  the  sinner's  justification  before 
God  is  so  altered  that  it  is  now  an  essentially  and 
radically  different  thing  from  what  it  was  origin- 
ally.    But  what  is  there  essentially  different  in 


JEWISH    AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  59 

spirit,  whether  we  look  forward  to  a  Saviour 
through  types,  shadows,  or  figures,  or  back  to  a 
Saviour  through  the  ordinances  and  institutions  of 
the  gospel  ?  Is  not  the  principle  the  same  ?  Do 
not  all  look  to  the  same  source  for  salvation,  and 
depend  on  the  same  blood  of  atonement  ?  Are 
not  the  same  graces  of  the  Spirit,  and  similar  ex- 
ercises of  soul  required  of  all,  whether  under  the 
dispensation  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  or  the  Chris- 
tian dispensation  ?  Are  not  repentance  and  faith 
just  as  necessary  under  the  divine  administration, 
in  one  age  of  the  world  as  another?  Hence  I 
conclude  there  cannot,  in  the  very  nature  of  the 
case,  be  more  than  one  true  church  of  God  in  the 
world. 

II.  That  the  Jewish  and  Christian  church  are 
essentially  one  and  the  same,  may  be  proved  from 
the  fact  that  they  are  both  founded  on  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  or  redemption. 

A  cQvenant  is  an  agreement  between  different 
parties  on  certain  and  specified  conditions,  or  it  is 
a  conditional  proposition  made  by  one  party  to 
another;  an  assent  to  this  proposition  by  the 
other  party  constitutes  it  a  covenant ;  or  it  is  a 
ratification  of  the  proposition.  Grace  is  a  favor 
bestowed  upon  the  unworthy ;  or  it  is  an  exercise 
of  mercy  and  goodness  to  the  ill- deserving.  In 
a  covenant  of  works  there  is  no  exercise  of  mercy. 


60  THE    ONENESS    OF    THE 

Every  act  is  measured  by  strict  and  impartial 
justice.  Do  and  live,  are  its  only  conditions.  By 
the  covenant  of  grace,  in  its  practical  results, 
we  understand  God's  offer  of  favor  and  eternal 
life  to  guilty  rebels  through  Jesus  Christ.  That 
which  is  required  of  man  in  this  covenant  is  faith 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  great  atoning 
sacrifice  for  sin,  and  a  godly  sorrow  for  sin  work- 
ing repentance  unto  salvation :  the  sincerity  and 
genuineness  of  these  must  be  proved  by  cordial 
love  to  God,  and  cheerful  obedience  to  all  the 
Divine  commands.  God,  on  his  part,  pledges 
eternal  life  to  all  who  comply  with  the  conditions 
of  the  covenant.  When,  therefore,  any  individual 
exercises  faith  in  Christ,  and  repentance  for  his 
sin,  he  cordially  assents  to  the  covenant,  and  is 
thereby  initiated  into  it.  The  covenant  of  grace 
was,  in  spirit,  and  in  its  practical  efficacy,  revealed 
in  some  good  degree  to  Adam,  Enoch,  Noah,  and 
other  patriarchs  who  lived  previous  to  Abraham ; 
and  their  cordial  compliances  with  its  terms  se- 
cured their  salvation.  It  was  more  clearly  and 
fully  revealed  to  Abraham  in  that  covenant  made 
with  him,  of  which  circumcision  was  a  seal  or 
token.  Here  the  church  was  organized  in  a  more 
visible  manner ;  and  Abraham  complied  with  this 
visible  organization  by  applying  the  seal  of  circum- 
cision to  himself  and  family. 


JEWISH   AND    CHRISTIAif    CHURCH.  61 

If  it  can  be  made  to  appear  that  this  covenant, 
made  with  Abraham,  required  faith,  or  real  re- 
hgion  of  the  heart  as  its  condition,  and  a  promise 
of  eternal  life  to  a  compliance  with  its  conditions, 
it  will  be  abundantly  manifest  that  it  was  based 
upon  the  covenant  of  grace,  and  essentially  and 
radically  the  same  with  the  requirements  of  the 
gospel. 

That  faith  and  true  religion  was  the  condition 
of  the  Abrahamic  covenant  is  manifest  from  the 
very  words  of  the  covenant :  '  I  am  the  Almighty 
God ;  walk  before  me  and  be  thou  perfect ;  and  I 
will  make  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee.' 
Here  God  requires  of  Abraham  that  he  should 
walk  before  God,  and  be  perfect  and  upright. 
Does  not  this  require  the  existence  of  true  religion 
in  the  heart  and  practice  ?  Is  anything  more 
required  of  Christians  imder  the  gospel  economy  ? 
It  is  certain  that  circumcision  was  a  seal  or  token 
of  the  Abrahamic  covenant ;  for  it  is  explicitly 
said :  '  Ye  shall  circumcise  the  flesh  of  your  fore- 
skin, and  it  shall  be  a  token  of  the  covenant  be- 
tween me  and  you.'  But  an  inspired  apostle  hath 
said,  that  '  Abraham  received  the  sign  of  circum- 
cision, a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith,  which 
he  had,  yet  being  uncircumcised.'  While  circum- 
cision was  a  token  of  the  covenant,  it  was  also 
'a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith.'   Now,  what 


62  THE    ONENESS    OF   THE 

are  we  to  understand  by  the  righteousness  of 
faith,  if  it  does  not  mean  justification  by  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ  ?  If  this  be  its  meaning,  then  it  em- 
braces the  whole  true  rehgion.  But  if  it  does  not 
mean  this,  then  where  is  the  propriety  of  the 
apostles  calling  it  a  seal  of  that  faith,  which  was 
accounted  to  Abraham  for  righteousness,  and  thus 
made  him  the  father  of  all  them  that  believe  ?  If 
true  religion  was  not  required  by  the  Abrahamic 
covenant,  then  what  authority  have  we  to  believe 
that  there  was  any  true  religion  previous  to  the 
advent  of  the  Saviour  ? 

Unbelief  debarred  from  a  participation  of  the 
benefits  of  that  covenant.  This  is  expressly  as- 
serted by  an  inspired  apostle,  where  he  repre- 
sents unbelief  as  the  chief  barrier  against  the 
Israelites'  entrance  into  the  promised  land.  It  is 
admitted  by  all  that  the  Abrahamic  covenant  is 
the  foundation  of  the  Jewish  church.  But  the 
Jews  were  broken  off  from  this  very  church,  or 
olive  tree,  because  of  their  unbelief,  which  cer- 
tainly shows  that  faith  was  a  condition  of  the 
covenant.  It  must,  therefore,  be  essentially  such 
a  gracious  covenant  as  to  secure  the  salvation  of 
those  who,  from  the  heart,  were  in  that  covenant. 

God  promises  to,  Abraham,  '  that  he  will  be  a 
God  to  him,  and  to  his  seed  after  him.'  What 
more  could  God  have  promised  ?     Has  he  pro- 


JEWISH    AND    CHRISTIAN    CHUECH.  63 

mised  any  more  to  Christians  under  the  gospel 
dispensation  ?  He  gave  himself  to  Abraham  and 
his  seed  after  him,  if  he  would  keep  his  covenant. 
God  uses  the  same  kind  of  language  to  Christians 
under  the  gospel  economy  :  '  I  will  be  unto  them 
a  God,  and  they  shall  be  unto  me  a  people.'  God 
did  all  he  consistently  could  do  for  the  Jews,  and 
has  he  done  any  more  for  Christians  ?  '  He  that 
overcometh  shall  inherit  all  things  ;  and  I  will  be 
his  God.'  Could  the  Jews,  or  can  we  ask,  any- 
thing more  ? 

Again,  it  is  written,  '  If  ye  be  Christ's,  then 
are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs  according  to  the 
promise.'  Those  who  are  truly  converted  and  be- 
lona:  to  Christ  are  Abraham's,  and  belong  to  the 
covenant.  Is  not  this  very  clearly  recognizing 
them  as  possessing  the  same  spirit,  and  sustaining 
the  same  relationship  to  God  ?  This  exhibits  the 
oneness  of  the  two  churches,  and  that  that  faith, 
love  and  repentance  which  constitutes  us  the  dis- 
ciples of  Christ  does  also  constitute  us  the  seed 
of  Abraham,  which  very  clearly  shows,  that  if 
true  religion  were  required  under  the  Christian 
dispensation,  it  was  also  equally  obhgatory  under 
the  Abrahamic  covenant.  Hence  we  are  taught 
that  both  churches  are  founded  upon  the  same 
gracious  covenant ;  but  upon  the  same  promises  ; 
dependent  upon  the  same  blood  of  atonement,  and 
6 


6'4  THE    ONENESS    OF    THE 

must  all  look  to  the  same  covenant-keeping  God 
for  protection,  and  for  its  perpetuity.  Is  not 
then  the  Christian  church  the  continuance,  and 
enlargement,  in  its  privileges,  of  the  church^that 
was  first  visibly  organized  in  the  family  of  Abra- 
ham, or  that  church  which  God  hath  recognized 
as  his  dwelling-place  in  every  age,  and  whose 
gates  he  loves  more  than  all  the  dwellings  of 
Jacob  ? 

III.  The  qualifications  for  membership  are 
the  same  under  both  dispensations. 

Under  the  gospel  dispensation  holiness  of  heart 
as  well  as  a  holy  and  circumspect  walk  and  de- 
portment is  required  of  every  disciple  of  Christ. 
It  is  regeneration  and  its  fruits  that  constitute  the 
radical  difference  between  saints  and  sinners. 
Under  the  former  economy  God  said,  *  Circum- 
cise the  foreskin  of  your  hearts,  and  be  no  man 
stiff-necked.'  Are  we  not  here  explicitly  taught 
that  newness  of  life  and  hohness  of  heart  were 
indispensably  necessary  to  constitute  any  one  a 
member  of  the  Jewish  church  ?  There  is  very 
great  emphasis  placed  on  the  circumcision  of  the 
heart,  for  Paul,  under  inspiration,  said,  and  cer- 
tainly he  knew  what  a  Jew  ought  to  be,  '  He  is 
not  a  Jew  which  is  one  outwardly  ;  neither  is  that 
circumcision  which  is  outward  in  the  flesh ;  but 
he  is  a  Jew  which  is  one  inwardly ;  and  circum- 


JEWISH    AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  65 

cision  is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in 
the  letter.'  The  chief  thing  that  God  observed, 
and  particularly  noticed,  were  the  feelings  of  the 
heart ;  for  '  as  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is 
he'  in  the  sight  of  God.  This  is  confirmed  by  the 
express  words  of  the  covenant:  *I  am  the  Al- 
mighty God  ;  walk  before  me,  and  be  thou  per- 
fect.' God  required  as  much  experimental  religion 
of  the  Jews  as  he  does  now  of  Christians.  '  This 
day  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  commanded  thee  to 
do  these  statutes  and  judgments  :  thou  shalt  there- 
fore keep  and  do  them  with  all  thine  heart,  and 
with  all  thy  soul.'  Hence  we  are  taught  that  the 
whole  heart  and  soul  were  required  in  the  dis- 
charge of  every  duty.  The  heart  must  be  right 
with  God,  or  all  their  religion  would  be  a  dull  for- 
mality, and  presumptuous  hypocrisy.  The  ordin- 
ances of  the  Jewish  religion  could  not  be  properly 
observed  without  heart-religion. 

Every  part  of  the  Old  Testament  dispensation 
had  its  correspondent  under  the  ISTew  Testament 
economy.  Circumcision  was  instituted  by  the  ex- 
press command  of  God  as  a  token  of  the  covenant 
between  God  and  his  servant  Abraham,  and  '  he 
received  the  sign  of  circumcision,  a  seal  of  the 
righteousness  of  faith  which  he  had,  yet  being 
uncircumcised.'  Circumcision  was  not  the  initiat- 
ing ordinance  into  the  church,  but  *  a  seal  of  the 


6Q  THE    ONENESS    OF    THE 

righteousness  of  faith/  which  righteousness  is  a 
justifying  righteousness.  It  was  imputed  or 
reckoned  to  Abraham  for  righteousness.  The 
paschal  lamb  that  was  slain,  and  his  blood 
sprinkled  upon  the  door-posts,  had  a  special 
reference  to  the  Saviour  who  was  crucified,  and 
whose  blood  was  shed  for  the  remission  of  sins. 
The  feast  of  the  passover  corresponded  with  the 
gospel  feast,  or  the  Lord's  supper,  and  hence 
Christ  is  called  our  passover.  'None  were  per- 
mitted to  eat  the  passover  before  they  were  cir- 
cumcised. *  There  shall  no  stranger  eat  thereof ; 
but  every  man's  servant  that  is  bought  for  money, 
when  thou  hast  circumcised  him,  then  shall  he 
eat  thereof.  And  when  a  stranger  shall  sojourn 
with  thee,  and  will  keep  the  passover  to  the  Lord, 
let  all  his  males  be  circumcised,  and  then  let  him 
come  near  and  keep  it,  and  he  shall  be  as  one  that 
is  born  in  the  land ;  for  no  uncircumcised  person 
shall  eat  thereof.'  Before  this  token  of  the  cove- 
nant was  apphed,  they  could  not  be  entitled  to  the 
privilege  of  members  of  the  Jewish  church.  As 
faith  was  necessary  in  order  to  become  fit  subjects 
for  circumcision,  even  so  much  so  that  without 
faith  their  circumcision  was  made  uncircumcision, 
it  hence  follows  that  faith  was  as  indispensable  a 
qualification  in  order  to  be  circumcised,  as  it  is  in 
order  to  be  a  fit  subject  for  baptism.     Faith  was 


JEWISH   AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  6Y 

as  necessary  to  become  a  member  of  the  Jewish 
churcli  as  it  is  for  admission  into  tbe  Christian 
church.  It  was  as  much  impossible  to  please  God 
without' faith,  under  the  ancient  dispensation,  as 
it  is  now.  It  was  the  duty  of  every  Jew  to  ad- 
here rigidly  to  all  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the 
law.  They  were  positively  enjoined  by  the  great 
Lawgiver,  and  could  not  be  neglected  without  in- 
curring guilt  and  the  Divine  displeasure  ;  and  yet 
the  Lord  says  :  *  Bring  no  more  vain  oblations : 
incense  is  an  abomination  unto  me:  the  new 
moons  and  Sabbaths,  and  the  calling  of  assemblies, 
I  cannot  away  with:  it  is  iniquity,  even  the 
solemn  meeting.'  Why  is  the  solemn  meeting 
called  iniquitous  ?  Why  are  these  divinely  com- 
manded external  rites  and  ceremonies  an  abomina- 
tion unto  the  Lord  ?  Are  they  not  odious  to  God 
simply  because  there  is  no  heart  in  them  ?  Was 
it  not  because  they  had  nothing  but  lip-service  ? 
Was  there  not  a  want  of  humility,  and  sincere 
and  penitent  obedience  to  God  in  the  heart  ?  God 
has  always  loved  to  see  vital  piety  in  his  creatures. 
Experimental  piety  was  the  same  thing  in  Moses, 
Joshua  and  David  that  it  was  in  Paul,  Peter  and 
John.  Vital  piety  was  anticipated  and  expected 
to,  be  in  the  hearts  and  practice  of  the  professors 
of  religion  in  every  age  of  the  church  and  of  the 
world.  Are  we  not  constrained  to  admit  that  the 
6* 


68  THE    ONENESS    OF    THE 

qualifications  necessary  to  constitute  membership 
were  essentially  and  in  spirit  the  same  in  both  the 
Jewish  and  Christian  church  ?  Is  not  then  the 
true  church  of  God  one  and  the  same  under  the 
two  different  dispensations  ? 

lY.  That  the  Jewish  and  Christian  church  are 
the  same  and  only  true  church  of  God  in  the 
.world,  is  further  proved  from  the  fact  that  the 
rules  of  moral  conduct  and  discipline  have  been 
essentially  the  same  under  each  dispensation. 

The  command  of  God  to  the  Jews  was,  that 
they  should  love  the  Lord  God  with  all  their 
heart ;  that  they  should  love  their  neighbor  as 
themselves  ;  that  they  should  not  vex  or  oppress 
a  stranger ;  and  that  if  they  perceived  an  enemy's 
ox  or  ass  going  astray  they  must  certainly  bring 
it  back.  Hence  they  were  taught  to  do  good  to 
all,  not  excepting  their  enemies.  This  perfectly 
accords  with  the  precepts  of  the  ISTew  Testament. 
Christians  are  commanded  to  love  God  with  all 
the  heart :  to  love  one  another,  and  to  improve 
every  opportunity  to  do  good  to  all.  Love  your 
enemies  ;  pray  for  those  that  despitefuUy  use  you 
and  persecute  you ;  and  render  blessing  for  curs- 
ing. Hence  the  fundamental  laws  by  which  the 
true  church  has  been  governed,  are  the  same  in 
spirit  and  in  the  letter  in  every  age  of  the  world. 
They  produce  the  same  effect  upon  the  conduct 


JEWISH    AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  69 

and  moral  character  of  mankind.  All  kinds  of 
vice,  by  whatever  name  they  were  called,  were 
expHcitly  prohibited.  The  same  things  were  re- 
peated and  confirmed  by  the  precept  and  example 
of  the  New  Testament  economy. 

Idolatry,  profanity,  lying,  fraud,  oppression, 
envy,  revenge,  fornication,  and  all  kindred  vices 
were  forbidden  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 
The  discipline  in  each  were  very  similar,  and  their 
object  the  same.  It  was  to  reclaim,  and  not  de- 
stroy an  offending  brother.  '  Thou  shalt  not  hate 
thy  brother.  Thou  shalt  in  any  wise  rebuke  thy 
brother,  and  not  suffer  sin  upon  him.'  By  which 
we  are  taught  that  it  was  esteemed  a  duty  and  a 
privilege  to  endeavor  to  reclaim  a  brother  who 
had  wandered  from  the  path  of  rectitude.  And 
do  not  such  instructions  agree  perfectly  with  the 
precepts  taught  by  the  Saviour  ?  *  If  thy  brother 
trespass  against  thee,  go  and  tell  him  his  fault.' 
If  the  offending  brother  is  reclaimed,  a  brother  is 
gained,  is  forgiven,  and  restored  to  his  standing  in 
the  church.  When  a  Jew  repented  of  his  sin,  he 
was  directed  to  bring  his  sin-offering,  to  lay  his 
hand  on  the  head  of  his  victim,  as  an  expression 
of  his  penitence  and  desire  of  pardon  and  forgive- 
ness. It  became  the  duty  of  the  priest  to  make 
atonement  for  him  by  offering  his  victim,  and  then 
he  was  forgiven,  and  restored  to  his  standing  in 


YO  THE    ONENESS    OF    THE 

the  clmrch.  There  were  some  dififerent  rites  and 
forms  pursued  to  bring  about  the  same  results ; 
but  these  different  forms  terminated  in  the  same 
point,  and  produced  the  same  kind  of  feelings  to- 
wards sin,  and  reconciliation  to  God  and  man, 
and  thus  were  evidence  of  the  unity  of  design  in. 
the  discipline  of  each  of  the  churches.  If  an  of- 
fender in  the  Christian  church  remains  obstinate 
and  self-willed,  and  perseveres  in  his  sin,  he  is 
cast  out,  and  treated  as  an  heathen  man  and  pub- 
lican. There  is  a  correspondent  law  in  the  Jewish 
church.  *The  soul  that  doeth  aught  presumptu- 
ously, (whether  he  be  born  in  the  land,  or  a  stran- 
ger,) the  same  reproacheth  the  Lord;  and  that 
soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  his  people.'  Be- 
cause he  hath  despised  the  work  of  the  Lord,  and 
hath  broken  his  commandment,  that  soul  shall 
utterly  be  cut  off:  his  iniquity  shall  be  upon  him. 
The  rule  of  moral  conduct  and  discipline  breathes 
the  same  spirit  in  each  church.  There  are  some 
different  measures,  forms  and  ceremonies  prac- 
tised, but  they  are  intended  to  accomplish  the 
same  end,  produce  the  same  kind  of  reformation 
and  moral  character,  and  to  excite  the  exercises 
of  the  same  graces  of  the  Spirit.  To  generate  love 
to  God  and  to  man ;  and  produce  universal  peace 
and  happiness,  is  the  grand  design  of  the  rites, 
ceremonies,  and  discipline  of  each  church. 


JEWISH    AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  Il 

V.  That  the  Jewish  and  Christian  church  are 
essentially  one  is  further  proved  from  the  fact  that 
the  sacraments  and  ordinances  are  similar  in  their 
import  and  design.  Circumcision  under  the  Jew- 
ish economy  was  a  seal  or  token  of  faith,  and 
hence  is  called  a  '  seal  of  the  righteousness  of 
faith,'  which  Abraham  had,  being  yet  uncircum- 
cised ;  which  shows  that  he  first  believed,  and 
was  then  circumcised  together  with  his  household 
in  token  of  his  faith.  Baptism  has  precisely  the 
same  import  under  the  present  dispensation.  The 
jailer,  as  soon  as  he  possessed  his  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  *  was  baptized,  he  and  all  his 
straightway,  as  a  token  of  his  faith.  The  eunuch 
was  informed  that  he  might  be  baptised,  *  if  thou 
belie  vest  with  all  thine  heart.'  Baptism  is  the 
seal  of  faith  in  a  Saviour,  or  of  a  gracious  cove- 
nant. When,  therefore,  any  person  dedicates 
himself,  or  his  children  and  household  to  Christ 
in  baptism,  it  is  a  seal  or  token  of  his  faith,  and  of 
his  covenant  relation  to  God. 

Circumcision  took  away  a  part  of  the  flesh,  and 
plainly  denoted  the  necessity  of  a  change  of  heart, 
and  that  the  old  man  must  be  put  off,  and  that  the 
new  man  must  be  put  on.  Hence  we  are  taught 
the  entire  corruption  of  the  carnal  heart,  for 
surely  we  should  not  be  commanded  to  put  off  the 
old  man  with  his  deeds,  if  it  were  not  enmity 


X2  THE    ONENESS    OF    THE 

against  God,  and  radically  wrong.  Hence  the 
rites  of  tlie  Jewish  economy  clearly  taught  the 
doctrine  of  human  depravity,  and  the  necessity  of 
a  change  of  heart. 

And  does  not  baptism  teach  the  same  impor- 
tant and  momentous  truth,  by  the  washing  of  re- 
generation and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ? 
When,  therefore,  water  is  apphed  in  baptism  to 
infants  or  to  adults,  it  teaches  the  native  depravity 
of  the  human  heart,  and  the  need  of  being 
cleansed,  or  washed  in  the  laver  of  regeneration, 
and  sanctified  and  renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  import  and  design  of  circumcision  and  bap- 
tism We  the  same.  They  are  the  seal  of  the 
same  righteousness  of  faith,  a  sign  of  the  same 
gracious  covenant,  designate  the  same  native 
moral  character,  and  necessity  of  regeneration, 
and  imply  the  exercise  of  faith  in  the  same  Sa- 
viour, and  point  to  the  same  blood  of  atonement, 
and  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Abraham 
was  required  to  believe  and  be  circumcised  be- 
cause God  had  made  a  covenant  with  him  and  his 
seed.  It  then  sealed  a  covenant.  It  did  not 
make  the  covenant,  nor  initiate  the  subject  into  it. 
The  hearers  of  the  apostles  were  to  repent  and  be 
baptized,  because  the  promise  was  unto  them  and 
to  their  children.  And  to  what  promise  does  the 
apostle  allude,  but  the  promise  on  which  the  church 


JEWISH   AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  Y3 

is  based,  even  the  promise  made  to  Abraham,  in 
whose  seed  ail  the  famihes  of  the  earth  were  to  be 
blessed. 

There  is  a  more  striking  similarity  in  the  import 
and  design  of  the  passover.  The  paschal  lamb 
intimated  the  safety  of  all  who  placed  themselves 
under  the  cover  and  protection  of  the  blood  of 
their  atoning  sacrifice.  So  Christ  is  exhibited  as 
the  '  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world.' 

The  killing  of  the  lamb,  the  sprinkling  of  the 
blood  on  the  door-posts  to  save  them  from  the 
destroying  angel,  and  the  roasting  of  it  in  the  fire, 
are  so  many  rites  very  clearly  typifying  the  awful 
sufferings  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  sal- 
vation of  all  those  who  take  shelter  under  the 
blood  of  the  atonement,  and  receive  Christ  as 
their  great  passover  lamb.  Are  not  these  same 
truths  strikingly  exhibited  to  us  in  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  Supper?  Christ  is  called  by  an 
inspired  apostle,  '  our  passover  who  is  sacrificed 
for  us.'  If  we,  with  these  marks  of  similarity  and 
spirituality,  denominate  the  one  a  political  com- 
munity, or  at  most,  a  political  or  secular  theocra- 
cy, and  the  other  an  ecclesiastical  organization, 
do  we  not  separate  what  God  hath  joined  to- 
gether ?  And  then  one  or  two  questions  naturally 
arise,   which    cannot    be   very   easily   answered. 


74  THE    OXEXESS    OF   THE 

"Where  was  God's  true  cliurcli  previous  to  the  ad- 
vent of  Jesus  Christ  ?  Or  was  the  world  without 
any  true  chuixh  till  Christ  came  into  the  world  ? 
"When  did  a  regular  organization  take  place,  or 
when  was  the  true  church  of  God  organized  ?  It 
will  not  do  to  say,  that  it  was  organized  when  Christ 
instituted  the  Lord's  Supper,  for  that  would  be 
grafting  it  upon  the  old  stock,  and  then  it  must 
still  remain  only  a  political  community  or  a  kind 
of  political  theocracy. 

YI.  Those  who  were  members  of  the  one 
church,  were  also  members  of  the  other,  and  that 
without  being  newly  initiated,  as  has  always  been 
the  custom  in  going  from  one  church  to  another 
and  different  church. 

We  have  no  account  that  Christ  or  his  disci- 
ples ever  separated  themselves  from  the  Jewish 
church.  Christ  himself  was  a  member  of  that 
church,  and  never  was  broken  off  from  it,  or  ex- 
communicated from  it,  till  after  the  new  reorgani- 
zation of  the  church  in  the  institution  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.  He  was  circumcised  and  always  partook 
of  the  passover,  and  v/as  always  present,  or  it 
would  have  been  noticed  as  a  charge  against  him. 

The  passover  was  a  Jewish  institution,  very  dis- 
similar from  all  other  institutions.  It  was  com- 
menced and  commemorated  by  divine  appoint- 
ment.    It  belonged    by  a  special,  by  a  divine 


JEWISH    AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  TS 

arrangement  to  the  Jewish  church,  and  none  were 
permitted  to  participate  in  it  but  regular  members. 
While  it  reminded  the  Jews  of  their  remarkable 
deliverance  from  Egyptian  bondage,  it  also  prefig- 
ured or  typified  the  Christian  passover,  or  sacra- 
ment. As  the  paschal  lamb  pointed  to  the 
Saviour  himself  as  the  great  atoning  sacrifice  for 
for  sin,  so  the  passover  pointed  to  the  Lord's 
Supper,  or  sacrament.  The  one  typified  or  pre- 
figured a  Saviour  to  come;  the  other  is  com- 
memorative of  a  Saviour  that  has  already  come, 
and  who  has  made  the  predicted  atonement  by 
sufferings  and  death.  Christ,  by  his  own  act, 
proved  them  to  be  one  institution  in  spirit,  or 
rather  parallel  and  corresponding  institutions 
under  two  different  dispensations;  for  when  he 
for  the  last  time  celebrated  the  passover,  he  took 
the  bread  and  the  wine,  and  gave  it  to  his  disci- 
ples, and  said,  '  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my  body.  And 
he  took  the  cup,  and  gave  thanks,  and  gave  it  to 
them,  saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  it ;  for  this  is  my 
blood  of  the  New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for 
many,  for  the  remission  of  sins.'  And  this  he  did, 
while  at  the  passover.  By  this  act  Christ  institu- 
ted the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  com- 
manded it  to  be  commemorated  or  kept  in  every 
succeeding  age  till  he  come.  He  did  not  by  this 
act,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  disband  or  disor- 
7 


76  THE    ONENESS    OF   THE 

ganize  the  Jewish  church ;  neither  did  he  convey 
the  idea  that  they  were  then,  by  partaking  of  this 
bread  and  ciip,  or  sacrament,  become  members  of 
a  new  and  different  church.  They  were  still 
members  of  the  same  church ;  and  we  have  no 
authority  from  Scripture  to  conclude  that  we  are 
members  of  a  church  radically  different  in  spirit, 
or  in  design,  from  the  ancient  Jewish  or  Abraha- 
mic  church,  though  we  are  under  a  different  dis- 
pensation, where  the  same  truths  and  doctrines 
are  communicated  in  a  different  way,  or  by  different 
rites.  There  is  no  new  covenant  made,  if  by  new 
we  are  to  understand  that  which  has  never  been 
revealed,  for  the  covenant  of  grace  is  unalterably 
the  same,  and  all  the  gracious  provisions  of  the 
Abrahamic  covenant  are  continued  and  perpetua- 
ted under  the  Christian  dispensation,  in  which 
spiritual  light  shines  brighter,  and  is  more  clearly 
revealed  than  under  the  former  dispensation. 
That  was  but  the  dawning  of  the  day ;  this  is  the 
sun  rising  in  its  strength,  splendor  and  glory,  and 
will  shine  brighter  and  brighter  unto  the  perfect 
day.  There  being  no  new,  or  essentially  different 
covenant,  and  having  no  account  when  the  apos- 
tles passed  out  of  one  church  into  the  other,  we 
may  naturally  conclude  their  membership  has 
never  been  changed ;  or  in  other  words,  they 
were    always    members   of    one   and   the    same 


JEWISH   AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  7*7 

church ;  for  certainly,  if  they  had  ever  separated 
themselves  from  that  church  to  which  they  were 
originally  united,  we  should  have  had  some  inti- 
mations of  it  somewhere  in  the  New  Testament. 
This  would  have  been  an  event  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance to  the  world  in  every  subsequent  gene- 
ration, and  certainly  at  such  a  momentous  season 
and  significant  era  as  the  Pentecostal  revival,  we 
should,  if  ever,  have  heard  something  about  the 
change  of  their  ecclesiastical  relationship  ;  but  at 
the  close  of  that  glorious  work  it  is  simply  stated, 
*  and  the  same  day  there  were  added  unto  them 
about  three  thousand  souls.  And  the  Lord 
added  to  the  church  daily  such  as  should  be 
saved.'  Hence  there  was  no  church  but  the  one 
to  which  the  immediate  followers  of  Christ  were 
connected.  They  never  changed  their  relation- 
ship to  the  Jewish  church,  except  that  which  was 
implied  in  the  institution  of  the  eucharist  at  the 
last  passover,  which  our  Lord  himself  attended. 
Being  members  of  the  church  under  both  dispen- 
sations, it  necessarily  follows  that  the  Jewish  and 
Christian  church  were  radically  the  same. 

VII.  That  the  Jewish  and  Christian  church  are 
essentially  the  same  true  church  of  God,  may  be 
urged  from  the  fact  that  he  is  equally  the  great 
Head  of  both,  and  they  are  represented  as  his 
house,  or  building.      In  the  Old  Testament,  the 


78  THE    ONENESS    OF   THE 

church  is  called  the  spouse.  If  the  church  he  a  , 
spouse,  she  must  have  a  husband.  The  Lord  of 
hosts  is  represented  as  the  husband  of  the  church, 
who  has  the  special  and  providential  government 
of  it  in  all  her  troubles.  He  supports  and  pro- 
tects her,  as  a  husband  does  his  wife,  and  is  bound 
by  his  divine  promise  to  prevent  the  gates  of  hell 
from  prevailing  against  her :  '  Thy  Maker  is  thine 
husband ;  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  his  name  ;  the  God 
of  the  whole  earth  shall  he  be  called.'  But,  in 
the  New  Testament,  the  church  is  called  the  bride, 
the  Lamb's  wife.  Nothing,  then,  can  be  more 
manifest  than  the  important  truth  that  both 
churches  are  one ;  for  it  is  absurd  and  inconsistent 
to  suppose  that  Christ  has  two  true  churches  in 
the  world. 

Again:  The  church  is  called  God's  building, 
fitly  framed  together ;  but  Christ  is  the  foundation 
on  which  it  is  built.  It  is  said :  '  My  servant, 
Moses,  is  faithful  in  all  mine  house.'  By  house 
is  understood  the  Jewish  church,  over  which  Moses 
presided.  'But  Christ  was  counted  worthy  of 
more  glory  than  Moses  ;  inasmuch  as  he  who  hath 
builded  the  house  hath  more  glory  than  the  house.' 
Again :  *  Moses  was  verily  faithful  in  all  his  house 
as  a  servant,  for  a  testimony  of  those  things  which 
were  to  be  spoken  after ;  but  Christ  as  a  son  over 
his  own  house ;  whose  house  are  we,  if  we  hold 


JEWISH    AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  79 

fast  the  confidence,  and  the  rejoicing  of  the  hope 
firm  unto  the  end.'  This  was  Christ's  house,  for 
he  built  it,  and  he  was  a  son  over  his  own  house. 
His  house  was  the  Christian  church ;  '  of  whose 
house  are  we ;'  referring  to  behevers,  or  professing 
Christians.  But  in  this  house  (that  is,  Christ's) 
Moses  was  faithful.  Hence  the  Jewish  and  Chris- 
tian church  are  essentially,  and  in  spirit  and  de- 
sign, the  same  true  church  of  God. 

Inference.  If  the  Jewish  and  Christian  church 
are  radically  the  same,  and  if  the  qualifications 
for  admission  are  the  same,  then  the  children  of 
believers  sustain  a  similar  relation,  and  are  entitled 
to  equal  privileges  in  each  church.  If  the  chil- 
dren of  believers,  under  the  Christian  dispensation, 
had  been  deprived  of  or  denied  the  privileges 
granted  by  covenant  to  Jewish  children,  it  is  a 
matter  of  such  vital  importance,  that  it  could  not 
have  been  omitted  in  the  divine  record,  or  in  the 
organization  of  the  Christian  church.  The  chil- 
dren of  believers,  even  where  only  one  of  them  is 
a  professed  Christian,  are  recognized  as  holy; 
that  is,  under  the  protection  of  the  covenant. 
Where,  in  the  divine  record,  or  even  by  the  de- 
cisions of  the  primitive  Christian  church,  has 
God  excluded  children  from  the  privileges  granted 
to  Jewish  parents  ?  If  any  such  exclusion  had 
ever  taken  place,  it  would  have  been  such  a  per- 


80  THE    ONENESS    OF   THE 

feet  innovation  as  would  have  insured  it  a  promi- 
nent place  in  all  ecclesiastical  records ;  but  there 
is  no  such  event  on  record.  I  have  never  learned 
that  the  children  of  Christian  are  intellectually 
inferior  to  the  children  of  Jewish  parents.  Faith 
had  just  as  distinguished  a  place  under  the  J6 wish 
as  under  the  Christian  dispensation.  Children 
are  children  in  every  age  of  the  church  and  of 
the  world,  and  are  to  be  treated  as  such.  The 
children  in  every  age  of  the  world  are  equally 
capable  of  exercising  faith.  As  much,  then,  will 
be  required  of  children  under  the  more  simple 
and  clear  dispensation  of  the  Gospel,  as  under 
that  dispensation  which  exhibited  by  various  typi- 
cal rites,  and  was  only  a  shadow  of  good  things 
to  come.  If  it  was  proper  to  circumcise  Jewish 
children,  on  the  ground  of  the  faith  of  parents, 
or  as  a  seal  of  the  parents'  faith  or  covenant,  it  is 
equally  proper  to  baptize  children ;  and  it  cannot 
be  omitted  without  a  neglect  of  duty  and  a  breach 
of  covenant.  Is  it  right  or  equal  to  say  that 
the  children  of  the  Jews  were  the  children  of  the 
covenant,  but  the  children  of  Christians  are  not  ? 
and  that,  too,  when  each  of  the  churches  is  based 
upon  the  same  covenant  and  promises?  May 
Jewish  parents  bring  their  children  to  the  church, 
place  the  token  of  the  covenant  upon  them,  and 
put  them  under  the  shadow  of  the  covenant  for 


JEWISH    AND    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  81 

protection,  and  must  Christian  parents  be  denied 
this  privilege,  and  leave  their  children  behind 
them?  Did  Peter  reason  thus  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  when  he  said :  '  The  promise  is  imto 
you  and  to  your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar 
off,  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call.' 
It  does  appear  to  me  a  peculiarly  interesting  and 
encouraging  fact  for  parents  who  love  their  chil- 
dren, that  Peter  should  be  mspired  to  refer  to 
this  promise,  and  bring  in  children  to  share  the 
covenant  blessings  of  the  God  of  Abraham,  at 
the  time  when  there  was  such  a  universal  excite- 
ment, and  the  minds  of  all  appeared  to  be  entirely 
enveloped.  In  this  great  excitement  children  were 
not  forgotten,  as  being  a  party  interested  in  the 
covenant.  His  enlarged  and  inspired  benevolence 
brought  in  the  dear  children  for  a  share  of  the 
divine  blessmg.  It  was  not  possible  to  forget 
them,  however  much  his  soul  was  thrilled  with  the 
infinitely  rapturous  and  interesting  scene  before 
him.  Have  Christian  parents  lost  their  sensibility, 
that  they  can  leave  their  children  to  lie  in  the  open 
field  of  impiety,  and  to  form  their  moral  character 
from  the  unholy  influences  with  which  they  are 
surrounded  ? 


CHAPTER  III. 

PARENTAL    riDELITY    REWARDED. 

**  For  I  know  him,  that  he  wiJl  command  his  children  and  his  honse- 
hold  after  him,  and  they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do  justice 
and  judgment ;  that  the  Lord  may  hring  upon  Abraham  that  which  he 
hath  spoken  of  him." — Genesis,  xviii.  19. 

The  Lord  knew  the  pious  patriarch,  that  he 
would  be  faithful,  and  that  he  would  *  command 
his  children  and  his  household  after  him,'  and 
therefore  knew  what  to  promise.  Abraham  had 
been  tried.  There  was  no  question  concerning  his 
piety,  his  fidelity,  and  his  love  to  God.  He 
placed  the  most  imphcit  confidence  in  the  divine 
promise,  when  everything  seemed  to  militate 
against  its  fulfilment.  Against  '  hope  believed  in 
hope,  that  he  might  become  the  father  of  many 
nations.'  God  positively  predicted  a  blessing  upon 
the  nations  descending  from  the  posterity  of  this 
venerable  patriarch,  and  with  them  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  were  to  participate.  This  blessing 
was  predetermined,     God  had  a  definite  plan  by 


PARENTAL    FIDELITY    REWARDED.  83 

which  it  was  to  be  effected ;  and  one  of  the  means 
was  the  parental  faithfulness  of  Abraham. 

The  text  suggests  some  arguments  to  encourage 
parental  faithfulness. 

I.  If  parents  are  truly  faithful,  God  hath  en- 
gaged *  that  their  children  shall  keep  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  to  do  justice  and  judgment.'  "What  he 
hath  said  he  will  make  good,  for  he  is  not  a  man 
that  he  should  He.  You  may  set  it  down  for  a 
certainty,  that  if  a  child  is  '  trained  up  in  the  way 
he  should  go,  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart 
from  it.'  The  impressions  that  are  made  upon 
the  minds  of  children  are  deep  and  lasting,  and 
will  have  an  influence  in  forming  their  moral  char- 
acter. Hence,  if  they  are  taught  to  govern  their 
passions  and  to  bridle  their  tongues,  and  have 
good  examples,  not  only  of  morality  but  of  vital 
and  every-day  piety,  constantly  placed  before 
them,  it  will  have  a  powerful  and  salutary  effect 
upon  all  their  subsequent  conduct.  But  if  chil- 
dren do  not  perceive  the  fruits  of  true  godliness 
in  the  lives  of  their  parents ;  if  the  parents'  re- 
ligion is  mere  morality  and  an  external  profession  > 
and  if,  when  they  converse  with  their  children, 
they  do  not  enter  into  the  very  feelings  of  the 
child,  and  if  possible  discover  the  secret  movings 
and  intents  of  the  heart ;  and  if  they  do  not 
manifest  to  their  children  that  the  religion  they 


84  PARENTAL    FIDELITY    REWARDED. 

profess  is  very  searching,  and  reaches  to  all  the 
secret  feelings  and  motives  of  the  heart;  these 
children  will  be  prone  to  form  a  very  unfavorable 
opinion  of  the  glorious  truths  of  the  Gospel.  The 
children  of  such  parents  will  imbibe  the  most 
bitter  hatred  and  deep-rooted  prejudice  against 
the  religion  of  their  parents.  By  your  every-day 
life  and  conduct,  teach  your  children  that  your 
religion  is  of  the  heart,  and  has  a  sanctifying  in- 
fluence upon  all  your  conduct  and  conversation ; 
yea,  and  by  your  holy  example  command  your 
children  and  your  household  after  you,  and  the 
divine  promise  secures  a  blessing  upon  your  off- 
spring. They  will  never  be  satisfied  with  a  super- 
ficial religion.  Be  faithful,  as  Abraham  was,  and 
the  covenant  blessing  will  rest  upon  your  chil- 
dren ;  and  as  Isaac  called  upon  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, so  will  your  children  call  upon  your  God  to 
remember  the  oath  he  sware  unto  you.  As  the 
faithfulness  of  Abraham  was  remembered  in  Isaac, 
so  your  faithfulness  will  not  be  forgotten  in  your 
children.  If  you  are  faithful,  like  Abraham,  many 
Isaacs  will  be  found  among  your  posterity,  who 
will  rise  up  and  bless  your  memory.  If  you  train 
up  your  children  for  God,  and  in  faith  consecrate 
them  to  his  service,  God  will  not  refuse  to  own 
them,  for  obedience  will  be  their  happiness  and 
their  life.     If  the  present  generation  were  truly 


PARENTAL    FIDELITY    RE^YARDED.  85 

faithful,  their  children's  children,  yea,  unborn 
generations  down  to  the  latest  ages,  would  keep 
the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  do  justice  and  judgment, 
and  participate  in  the  blessings  of  renewing  grace. 
Some,  perhaps,  are  ready  to  .inquire,  why  are 
the  children  of  professedly  pious  parents  in  so 
many  instances  wicked,  disobedient,  and  rebel- 
lious ?  It  cannot  be  because  God  has  broken  his 
promise,  for  'it  is  impossible  for  God  to  lie.'  The 
fact  is,  most  of  pious  parents  are  unfaithful  in 
many  respects;  and,  like  Eli,  do  not  properly 
restrain  their  children.  They  are  not  sufficiently 
circumspect,  and  prayerful,  and  dihgent  in  train- 
ing them  up  in  the  '  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord.'  From  the  conduct  and  appearance  of 
children  and  youth,  have  we  not  reason  to  conclude 
ihere  are  too  many  Ehs,  even  among  those  who 
dedicated  their  children  to  the  Lord  ?  The  sphit 
of  our  text  assures  us  that  when  parents  are  faith- 
ful in  training  their  children  for  God,  these  chil- 
dren will  be  blessed  and  sanctified,  and  will  walk 
in  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  do  justice  and  judg- 
ment. Notwithstanding  some  of  the  children  of 
pious  parents  are  wicked  and  impenitent,  yet  the 
great  majority  of  them  are  pious,  and  do  now 
constitute  the  visible  church ;  and  her  main  de- 
pendence for  her  future  existence  and  prosperity 
is  upon  the  children  of  the  covenant,  and  the  faith- 
fulness of  God  to  his  promise. 


86  PARENTAL    FIDELITY   REWARDED. 

II.  God  hath  positively  determined  a  blessing 
upon  the  faithful  exertions  of  parents.  This  idea 
is  clearly  implied  in  the  text.  The  faithfulness  of 
Abraham  was  one  of  the  appointed  means  by 
which  the  Lord  would  bring  upon  him  and  his 
posterity  the  promised  blessing.  When  God  pro- 
mises to  bless,  he  determines  the  means  by  which 
to  effect  it.  When  he  chooses  any  one  to  eternal 
life,  he  determines  the  means  by  which  they  shall 
be  brought  to  the  truth.  So  he  determines  the 
means  by  which  all  Abraham's  spiritual  seed  are 
to  be  reconciled  to  God.  Hence,  if  we  were  to 
examine  the  records  of  all  our  churches,  we  should 
find  that  its  present  members  are  composed,  for 
the  most  part,  of  such  children  as  were  piously 
educated,  or  who  have  received  pious  instruction 
in  Sabbath-schools,  or  whose  parents  or  grand- 
parents were  truly  pious  and  in  covenant  with 
God.  True,  God  is  not  limited.  In  some  in- 
stances, to  show  the  sovereignty  of  his  grace, 
God  does  take  the  children  of  the  most  impious 
and  obstinate  sinners,  and  make  them  heirs  of 
God,  and  joint  heirs  of  Jesus  Christ.  Yea,  some- 
times the  most  hardened  sinners  are  brought  to  a 
saving  knowledge  of  the  truth ;  but,  after  all, 
these  cases  may  be  traced  back  to  the  covenant  of 
some  of  their  ancestors,  whose  prayers  are  at  last 
answered.     The  pious  education  of  children  is  the 


PARENTAL    FIDELITY    REWARDED.  87 

ordinary  and  regularly  divine  appointed  means  by 
whicli  the  elect  are  to  be  gathered  from  the  four 
winds. 

It  is  true  the  children  of  the  truly  pious  do  not 
appear  immediately  to  follow  in  the  steps  of  their- 
fathers,  and  we  are  almost  ready  to  conclude  that 
God  has  forgotten  his  covenant.  Why  is  this  so  ?' 
In  some  cases  it  may  be  to  try  parents,  and  thus 
ascertain  whether  they  hold  on  to  the  divine  cov- 
enant and  promise  in  spite  of  the  greatest  dis- 
couragements. If  they  hold  on,  and  earnestly 
plead  for  the  covenant  blessings,  their  children 
will  eventually  be  converted.  In  other  case  s  it 
may  be  owing  to  their  omission  of  some  duties  ; 
for  the  most  pious  parents  are  not  without  their 
failings,  and  are  not  privileged  to  see  the  conver- 
sion of  their  children,  and  yet  they  may  meet 
them  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Son  of  Man.  In 
other  cases  parents  have  been  too  sparing  of  their 
instructions  and  admonitions,  and  thus  the  early 
education  of  the  children  is  neglected.  Although 
these  children  may  one  day  be  gathered  into  the 
fold  of  Christ,  yet,  since  their  early  religious  edu- 
cation was  neglected,  God  does  not  see  fit  to 
grant  them  the  privilege  of  seeing  and  enjoying 
the  fruit  of  their  labors  in  this  life.  For  infinitely 
holy  and  wise  reasons  they  are  denied  this  satis- 
faction, and  yet  they  will  learn  that  he  was  true  to 
8 


88  PARENTAL    FIDELITY    REWARDED. 

his  covenant,  so  that  all  the  blame  will  rest  upon 
parents.  '  , 

III.  If  parents  are  faithful,  they  leave  their 
children  an  entailed  estate,  of  which  they  cannot 
be  defrauded,  for  it  is  insured  to  them  by  the 
promise  of  God.  This  was  the  chief  legacy 
Abraham  left  his  posterity.  All  his  descendants 
plead  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  nay,  many  went  so 
far  as  to  plead  a  presumptuous  trust  in  it.  It  is 
■a  fact  that,  through  the  faithfulness  of  Abraham 
as  a  means,  the  greatest  blessing  mankind  have, 
or  ever  can  receive,  has  rested  upon  our  fallen 
race  ;  the  gift  of  the  Son  of  God  to  die  for  us,  and 
the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  renew  and 
sanctify  us.  A  chosen  and  a  pious  remnant  were 
preserved  in  every  age  of  the  Jewish  church,  that 
a  way  might  be  prepared  for  the  predicted  and 
-determined  blessing  to  be  introduced  into  the 
world.  Where  is  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  ?  Where  is  the  covenant-keeping  God 
of  David?  Where  is  the  Lord  God  of  Elijah? 
has  been  the  prayer  and  the  language  of  the  truly 
pious  in  every  age  when  pleading  for  some  special 
blessing.  Is  it  not  the  language  of  Christians 
now  ?  Is  it  not  the  language  of  some  who  hear 
me,  that  the  prayers  of  such  and  such  a  pious  per- 
son will  yet  be  answered?  Their  children  will 
experience  the  covenant  blessing  of  the  God  of 


PARENTAL    FIDELITY    REWARDED.  89 

their  fathers.  May  we  not  hope  that  there  are 
some  now  waiting  for  an  answer  to  the  prayers  of 
some  departed,  and  pious,  and  faithful  servant  of 
Christ  ?  Some  of  our  church  have  pious,  and  some 
impenitent  friends  in  foreign  lands.  The  pious 
have  been  converted  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of 
God's  covenant  people ;  and  have  not  the  impeni- 
tent some  in  the  covenant,  who  will  give  no  rest 
to  the  throne  of  grace  till  they  are  converted? 
If  your  pious  and  covenant  parents  are  now  living, 
they  are  still  praying  for  others,  and  perhaps  for 
the  one  that  sits  next  to  you,  and  perhaps  for  you. 
If  they  are  dead,  have  they  not  prayers  on  file  in 
the  court  of  heaven  before  the  throne  of  grace,  so 
to  speak,  that  yet  remain  to  be  answered  ?  Hence 
we  may  conclude,  if  parents  are  faithful  to  their 
covenant,  and  truly  pious,  they  will  entail  a  rich 
blessing  upon  their  children;  yea,  upon  their 
children's  children.  The  treasures  of  this  world 
that  you  leave  them  may  very  easily  be  taken 
from  them ;  but  this  is  a  glorious  and  rich  legacy, 
of  which  they  cannot  be  deprived.  Parents !  if 
you  are  faithful,  your  prayers  will  be  answered  in 
your  children,  and  in  your  children's  children,  to  a 
thousand  generations.  Is  not  this  a  lasting  and  a 
rich  legacy  ?  God  is  as  faithful  to  his  covenant 
now  as  he  ever  was.  And  as  an  unspeakably 
rich  blessing  was  entailed  upon  the  posterity  of 


90  PARENTAL    FIDELITY   REWARDED. 

Abraham,  so  may  we  not  certainly  calculate  that 
a  blessmg  will  be  entailed  upon  our  posterity,  if 
we  are  faithful  to  command  our  children  and  our 
household  after  us  ?  Dare  we  hesitate  whether 
or  not  to  perform  our  whole  duty  to  our  children  ? 
Dare  we  question  the  covenant  faithfulness  of 
God  ?  Have  you  not  a  rich  reward  promised  you 
for  doing  that  which  it  is  your  happiness  to  do,  as 
well  as  your  duty  ?  And  have  you  not  evidence 
that  the  blessing  will  be  extended  to  your  latest 
posterity  ?  What  greater  encouragement  can  you 
wish  ?  Do  you  wish  an  angel  to  come  from  high 
heaven,  and  assure  you  that  your  exertions  will 
not  be  in  vain  ?  You  have  even  more  than  this  ; 
you  have  the  promise  of  God  sealed  with  the 
blood  of  his  own  dear  Son.  Be  assured,  if  you 
will  not  take  encouragement  from  the  word  and 
promise  of  God,  the  declaration  of  the  archangel 
Gabriel  will  not  move  you. 

IV.  Another  thing  implied  in  the  text  is :  If 
parents  are  faithful  to  their  covenant  vows,  then 
their  children  are  prepared  to  receive  a  blessing. 
In  order  that  God  might  bring  a  blessing  upon  the 
posterity  of  Abraham,  it  appeared  necessary  that 
he  himself  should  be  faithful.  Is  not  this  the  case 
with  parents  always  ?  Does  not  God  accomplish 
his  purposes  of  mercy  now  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  second  causes  as  much  as  he  ever 


PARENTAL    FIDELITY    REWARDED.  91 

did  ?  Let  us  contemplate  the  case  candidly  and 
honestly.  Here  are  a  number  of  children  that 
have  always  had  good  examples  placed  before 
them.  They  have  been  taught  by  precept  and 
example  to  respect  religion;  good  and  virtuous 
sentiments  have  been  uniformly  inculcated  on  their 
minds  ;  Bible  truths  have  always  been  echoed  in 
their  ears ;  and  they  have  been  moulded  and  form- 
ed under  the  very  droppings  of  the  sanctuary  and 
the  family  altar,  Now  will  it  not  be  extremely 
difficult  to  eradicate  these  truths  from  their  minds  ? 
Is  there  not  hence  a  preparedness  to  receive  the 
blessings  of  sanctifying  grace?  Have  we  not 
greater  reason  to  expect  a  blessing  in  the  use  of 
the  appointed  means  than  in  the  neglect  of  them  ? 
Are  we  not  warranted  in  confidently  expecting  the 
conversion  of  our  children,  if  we  train  them  up  in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord  ?  Chil- 
dren that  have  been  religiously  educated  before 
they  are  converted,  do  act  more  consistently  and 
more  from  principle  than  others.  There  is  com- 
monly something  in  their  very  external  appearance 
and  countenance  that  tells  where  they  were  edu- 
cated. It  is  seldom  that  you  hear  them  making- 
a  mock  of  religion,  or  behaving  improperly  in  the- 
house  of  God ;  they  have  been  taught  better  man- 
ners. But  the  children  of  unfaithful  parents  are 
directly  the  reverse.  They  are  taught  to  disre- 
8* 


92  PARENTAL    FIDELITY   REWARDED. 

spect  religion,  and  tacitly  encouraged  to  neglect 
the  means  of  grace.  They  have  no  good  and  sal- 
utary example  placed  before  them  at  home.  The 
parents  themselves  make  their  atlendance  at  the 
house  of  God  a  mere  matter  of  convenience,  and 
not  the  business  of  the  Sabbath ;  for  if  their  selfish 
interest  requires  it,  they  hesitate  not  to  profane 
the  holy  Sabbath.  Jf^ow  may  we  not  very  easily 
determine  where  God  is  most  likely  to  bestow  his 
blessing?  Who  are  best  prepared  to  appreciate 
and  be  profited  by  the  ordinary  means  of  grace  ? 
True,  God  does  sometimes  take  the  children  of 
unfaithful  parents,  and  make  them  the  monuments 
of  his  sovereign  grace ;  but  this  is  not  his  ordinary 
method  of  dealing  with  his  creatures.  I  do  not 
wish  to  be  understood  by  anything  I  have  said, 
as  thinking  that  there  is  anything  in  the  means 
themselves,  or  even  in  the  faithful  use  of  them, 
meritorious  ;  but  I  do  assert  the  absolute  necessity 
of  their  use,  for  without,  the  conditions  are  not 
accomplished. 

y.  The  evil  consequences  of  unfaithfulness  and 
the  blessed  results  of  faithfulness  on  the  part  of 
parents,  when  set  in  contrast,  ought  to  be  an 
additional  encouragement  to  parental  fidelity. 
Through  parental  unfaithfulness  the  church  soon 
becomes  corrupted :  erroneous  principles  will  grad- 
ually gain  credence  and  popularity ;  vice  will  im- 


PARENTAL    FIDELITY   REWARDED.  93 

perceptibly.increase  ;  and  immorality  and  infidelity 
will  insidiously  destroy  the  church.  Look  at  the 
apostolic  churches  in  Asia,  apd  the  primitive 
Christian  churches  in  Europe  and  Africa.  Where 
are  they  ?  What  vestige  of  ancient  purity  and 
simplicity  in  even  the  church  at  Rome?  The 
Asiatic  churches  are  no  less  corrupt.  In  their 
religious  rites  and  ceremonies,  the  most  cruel 
practices  prevail.  With  some,  the  more  cruel  and 
inhumane,  the  more  praiseworthy.  And  to  what 
cause  can  it  be  rationally  ascribed  ?  Was  it  owing 
to  the  impurity  of  the  apostolic  doctrines?  Not 
at  all,  for  the  apostles  '  spake  as  they  were  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost.' 

That  Laodicean  spirit  which  first  crept  into  the 
churches  was  exactly  calculated  to  make  parents 
lax  in  their  discipline ;  inattentive  to  their  own  ex- 
ternal deportment,  and  loose  in  their  morals. 
Their  children,  from  the  native  depravity  of  the 
heart,  improved  upon  their  parents'  vices.  The 
corruption  increased  with  every  successive  gener- 
ation, until  she  declined  into  a  set  of  rites  which  had 
nothing  of  Christianity  but  the  name,  and  in  some 
cases  not  even  that.  Now  how  would  you  feel 
to  rise  from  the  grave  after  a  few  generations 
shall  have  passed  off  the  stage  of  life,  to  see  your 
posterity  enjoying  this  good  land,  but  destitute  of 
a  Christian   church,  deprived  of  the  means   of 


94  PARENTAL   FIDELITY   REWARDED. 

grace  ;  involved  in  heathenism,  superstition,  igno- 
rance, idolatry,  or  plunged  into  all  the  excesses  of 
infidelity  and  profanity?  Does  not  the  very  thought 
make  you  shudder  ?  Can  you  anticipate  such  a 
degeneracy  with  any  calmness  and  composure? 
The  primitive  Christians,  no  doubt,  thought  such  a 
declension  impossible.  But  it  has  taken  place  in 
the  churches  of  Asia  Minor.  Vital  piety  is  a 
stranger  in  most  of  those  countries,  and  districts 
that  once  were  favored  with  the  presence  and  per- 
sonal ministry  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  with  the 
examples  and  holy  doctrines  of  his  apostles.  The 
pure,  undefiled  and  experimental  religion  of  the 
Bible  hath  left  those  countries,  and  a  few  rays  of 
light  from  the  sun  of  righteousness  have  shone  in 
upon  our  Western  world ;  and  the  hearts  of  many 
have  rejoiced  in  the  Saviour.  Shall  it  be  rehearsed 
to  future  generations  that  the  unfaithfulness  of 
parents  have  darkened  our  moral  horizon,  and 
shut  out  the  clear  and  glorious  light  of  the  gospel? 
All  are  ready  to  say  such  a  dreadful  calamity  must 
be  avoided,  if  possible.  It  is  possible  ;  it  is  easy. 
The  faithful  performance  of  the  Abrahamic  cov- 
enant will  effectually  and  certainly  prevent  such 
an  awful  result.  Let  every  parent  do  his  duty  in 
the  pious  education  of  his  children  and  such  a 
state  of  things  cannot  exist.  Let  parents  be  as 
wise  in  their  generation  as  the  children  of  this 


PARENTAL    FIDELITY   REWARDED.  95 

world,  and  there  will  be  an  uninterrupted  harvest- 
season,  and  our  beloved  church  will  shine  brighter 
and  brighter  unto  the  perfect  day.  Every  empty 
church  in  our  land  would  be  speedily  filled,  and 
the  rising  generation  would  more  than  supply  the 
place  of  their  parents.  The  pious  parent  when 
leaving  the  world  would  be  cheered  with  the 
pleasing  reflection  that  his  children  are  polished 
stones  in  this  glorious  building,  the  church.  This 
return  to  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  and  the  faith- 
ful discharge  of  its  covenanted  duties,  would  bring 
us  back  to  the  divine  administration  of  the  affairs 
of  the  church  to  its  original  platform.  And  can 
there  be  a  better  plan  devised  than  the  one  God 
has  recommended  in  his  word  ?  While  Sabbath- 
schools  are  regarded  as  very  efl&cient  in  accom- 
phshing  the  divine  promises,  (and  I  wish  to  give 
them  God  speed  by  every  possible  means,)  yet 
what  could  they  accomplish  without  the  hearty 
co-operation  of  parents  ?  The  original  divine  plan 
has  been  too  much  neglected,  to  the  essential  in- 
jury of  vital  and  intellectual  piety.  When  Sab- 
bath-schools and  parental  fidelity  become  com- 
pletely amalgamated  into  one  solid  phalanx,  and 
act  in ,  perfect  harmony  and  concert,  they  will 
soon  and  very  rapidly  secure  the  conversion  of  the 
world.  But  as  far  as  the  Sabbath- school  stands 
alone,    unsanctioned    by    parental    fidelity    and 


96  PARENTAL   FIDELITY   REWARDED. 

prayers,  or  supersedes  parental  fidelity,  so  far  it 
becomes  proportionably  ineflScient.  And  I  do 
really  question,  whether  any  enterprise  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world  will  be  very  efficient  with- 
out the  prayerful  co-operation  of  parental  fidelity. 
Contemplate  for  one  nioment  the  anguish  and 
regret  that  agitates  and  distracts  the  inmost  soul 
of  the  unfaithful  parent  in  his  last  struggle,  when 
viewing  his  wicked  and  impenitent  children  around 
him.  With  his  whole  system  paralyzed  in  death, 
and  his  soul  on  the  very  eve  of  leaving  his  frail 
and  mortal  body,  with  a  wild  and  ghastly  look, 
he  says  :  '  I  have  neither  taught  you  by  precept 
nor  example  to  love  and  fear  God  ;  by  my  silence, 
I  have  encouraged  you  in  the  ways  of  sin  ;  I  have 
been  leading  you  to  hell ;  0  unhappy  father !  0 
ruined  children !  You  will  soon  meet  me  in  the 
abodes  of  wretchedness,  if  you  do  not  repent.  I 
have  much  that  I  want  to  say,  but  strength  fails 
me,  and  death  is  about  to  close  my  lips.'  His 
children  being  hardened  in  sin,  attribute  all  his 
distress  and  agony  of  soul  in  their  behalf,  to  an 
effeminate  fear  of  death.  Although  they  may 
tremble  with  cold  horror,  and  an  awful  thrill  of 
ten'or  may  agitate  their  souls,  yet  they  very  soon 
forget  the  awful  scene.  Thus  a  misspent  life,  and 
the  neglect  of  parental  duties  in  the  appropriate 
season,  constitutes  death  doubly  terrific. 


PARENTAL   FIDELITY   REWARDED.  97 

But  contemplate  for  one  moment  the  other  side 
of  the  picture.  The  pious  and  faithful  parent 
sees  death  approaching,  but  as  his  confidence  in 
the  divine  promise  is  strong  and  unwavering,  so 
death  to  him  hath  lost  its  sting,  and  the  grave  its 
gloom.  His  children  are  around  his  bed  to  catch 
the  last  words  that  drop  from  his  lips,  and  to  com- 
ply with  his  last  request ;  their  prayers  are  lifted 
to  God  for  some  guardian  angel  to  convoy  his 
soul  to  the  mansions  of  bliss  and  the  bosom  of  his 
Saviour  :  and  the  dying  parent  prospectively  sees 
his  place  more  than  filled  in  the  church  and  in 
the  world.  And  if  he  should  have  an  impenitent 
and  disobedient  child  around  his  couch,  an  implicit 
confidence  in  the  promise  of  his  covenant-keeping 
God,  and  a  consciousness  that  he  has  tried  faith- 
fully to  do  his  duty,  affords  him  a  sweet  composure 
of  soul,  and  a  heavenly  peace  as  the  soul  leaves 
its  clayey  tabernacle ;  or  he  can  afi'ectionately^and 
feelingly  give  him  his  last  warning  and  dying  ad- 
vice, and  that  with  a  clear  and  steady  voice,  feel- 
ing that  his  confidence  in  the  divine  Saviour  is 
unshaken.  While  looking  death  in  the  face,  and 
almost  in  the  presence  of  the  unseen  God,  and  in 
paradise  with  the  Saviour,  he  points  him  to  that 
Saviour  who  was  with  him  in  life,  and  his  great 
and  only  solace  in  death ;  and  while  gasping  in 
death  breathes  out  a  fervent  prayer  for  his  im- 


98  PARENTAL    FIDELITY    REWARDED. 

penitent  son,  and  sweetly  sleeps  in  the  embraces 
of  the  Saviour,  prepared  to  meet  that  son  before 
the  judgment-seat.  And  now  what  other  encour- 
agement, or  what  stronger  motive,  do  you  need  to 
induce  you  to  be  faithful,  to  command  your  chil- 
dren and  your  household  after  you  ?  You  have 
the  solemn  pledge  of  your  covenant-keeping  God, 
that  your  children  shall  inherit  the  richest  bless- 
ing Heaven  can  bestow ;  and  the  blessing,  rich  and 
invaluable  as  it  is,  and  ill-deserving  as  we  are  of 
it,  is  not  confined  to  your  children,  any  more  than 
it  was  confined  to  Isaac,  but  descends  to  our 
children's  children,  even  to  a  thousand  genera- 
tions. Even  in  your  family  there  may  be  another 
part  of  the  ancient  promise  to  Abraham  accom- 
plished, which  may  be  a  very  prominent  part  of 
the  consummated  church,  redeemed  by  the  blood 
of  Christ  from  our  lost  and  ruined  world. 

Besides,  your  love  to  your  children,  and  a  de- 
sire to  see  them  polished  stones  in  that  glorious 
building,  for  the  glory  of  the  great  Architect  or  Re- 
deemer, should  be  an  additional  motive  to  fidel- 
.ity.  What  is  more  desirable" to  the  pious  parent's 
heart  than  the  prospect  of  meeting  his  dear  chil- 
dren at  the  right  hand  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  glory, 
and  to  unite  with  them  in  anthems  of  praise  to  re- 
deeming grace  ?  You  may  be  the  divinely  ap- 
pointed means  of  bringing  them  home  to  eternal 


PARENTAL    FIDELITY    REWARDED.  99 

glory.  The  parental  fidelity  of  Abraham  was  the 
divinely  appointed  means  for  preparing  the  way 
for  covenanted  blessings  to  rest  upon  his  posterity. 
He  thus  became  the  father  of  the  faithful ;  and 
why  may  not  you  be  the  spiritual  fathers  of  your 
posterity  ?  What  hinders  you  from  giving  a  di- 
rect and  powerful  religious  impulse  that  shall 
reach  down  to  the  final  consummation  of  the 
church?  As  the  parental  fidelity  of  Abraham 
has  reached  down  through  many  generations  to 
you,  so  that  you  have  been  the  favored  recipients 
of  covenanted  blessings,  so  why  may  not  your 
parental  fidelity  reach  down  to  the  end  of  the 
world  ?  Is  it  not  in  this  way  that  the  church  has 
been  perpetuated  ?  Shall  its  further  and  contin- 
ued progress  be  arrested  by  your  violation  of  the 
covenant  and  your  parental  neglect  of  the  pious 
education  of  your  children  ? 

Again,  reflect  for  one  moment.  What  a  per- 
fect ecstatic  joy  must  have  thrilled  the  soul  of 
Abraham  when  he  met  Isaac  in  the  paradise  of 
God  !  And  how  was  that  joy  increased  and  ele- 
vated into  a  perfect  and  heavenly  rapture  as  Ja- 
cob and  the  patriarchs,  Moses,  David,  Elijah,  and 
Elisha  swelled  the  heavenly  throng !  How  will 
his  soul  swell  with  gratitude  and  praise  to  his 
covenant-keeping  God,  as  he  sees  the  children  of 
the  promise  entering  the  Mount  Zion  above! 
9 


100  PARENTAL    FIDELITY    REWARDED. 

And  when  the  children  of  the  promise  of  this  age 
shall  be  seen  collecting  around  the  throne  of  God 
and  the  Lamb,  and  a  perpetual  succession  of  the 
elect  from  the  four  winds  flocking  into  the  beatific 
presence  of  the  Saviour,  how  will  all  the  souls  of 
the  redeemed  be  divinely  enraptured!  If  like 
Abraham  you  exercise  parental  fidelity  in  the 
pious  education  of  your  children,  you  will  expe- 
rience a  similar  ecstasy  of  joy  and  delight,  of 
gratitude  and  praise;  a  joy  that  will  know  no 
limits,  and  a  sweet  hosanna  to  God  and  the  Lamb 
that  will  eternally  thrill  your  soul  with  a  love  that 
is  divine  and  heavenly,  and  with  a  happiness  that 
is  eternal  and  without  alloy. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


MISSIONARY   SERMON. 


"  And  thy  seed  shall  be  as  the  dust  of  the  earth  ;  and  thou  shalt  spread 
abroad  to  the  west,  and  to  the  east,  and  to  the  north,  and  to  the  south  ; 
and  in  thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed." 
— Genesis,  xxviii.  14. 


The  supreme  and  grand  object  of  the  gospel  is 
to  gather  together  the  elect  from  the  four  winds 
of  heaven,  and  organize  them  systematically  into 
a  body,  or  church.  And  this  church  is  to  be  the 
light  of  the  world,  the  salt  of  the  earth,  the  city 
set  on  a  hill,  and  the  leaven  intended  to  reach  to, 
and  revolutionize,  renew,  and  transform  a  wicked 
world  into  a  glorious,  and  splendid  *  temple  in  the 
Lord,  in  whom  also  ye  are  builded  together  for  an 
habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit.'  All  our 
associations,  whether  large  or  small,  so  far  as  they 
are  in  accordance  with,  and  are  managed  and  im- 
proved according  to  the  divine  word,  are  intended 
to  bring  back  to  God  a  lost,  ruined  and  fallen 
world.     In  our  families,  in  our  ecclesiastical  or- 


102  THE    CONNECTION    OF    THE    WHOLE 

ganizations,  and  in  all  our  benevolent  enterprises, 
we  should  liave  an  eye  single  to  the  glory  of 
God,  and  the  glorious  consummation  of  all  the 
divine  purposes  of  mercy.  Family  religion  car- 
ried out  in  its  legitimate  results  is  the  germ  of 
every  ecclesiastical  organization  and  benevolent 
enterprise ;  and  the  best  possible  security,  so  far 
as  human  agency  is  concerned,  for  the  perpetuity 
of  our  civil  and  rehgious  hberty. 

The  infinite  and  eternal  God,  who  is  the  head 
and  author  of  this  church,  has  placed  great  em- 
phasis, and  appended  infinitely  momentous  results 
upon  family  rehgion;  and  hence  he  said  of 
Abram :  *  For  I  know  him,  that  he  will  command 
his  children,  and  his  household  after  him,  and 
they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do  justice 
and  judgment;  that  the  Lord  may  bring  upon 
Abram  that  which  he  hath  spoken  of  him.' 
And  what  hath  the  Lord  spoken  of  him?  *I 
will  establish  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee, 
and  thy  seed  after  thee  in  their  generation,  for  an 
everlasting  covenant ;  to  be  a  God  unto  thee,  and 
to  thy  seed  after  thee.'  The  fidelity  of  Abram,  as 
the  father  of  his  family,  was  the  appointed  medium 
through  which  all  the  families  of  the  earth  were 
to  be  blessed.  Family  rehgion,  carried  out  in  its 
legitimate  consequences  and  divinely  intended 
effects,  is  that  life-giving,  and  spirit-moving,  and 


WITH  THE  CONVERSION  OF  THE  WORLD.  103 

grand  and  sublime,  though  simple  enterprise,  which 
must  convert  the  world.  And  no  benevolent  en- 
terprise should  contemplate  or  aim  at  any  thing 
less  than  the  conversion  of  the  world.  This  Di- 
vinity contemplated  in  the  family  organization  of 
Abram.  I  have  recently  pondered  in  my  mind 
which  benevolent  enterprise  of  the  age  claims  our 
first  attention,  and  demands  our  chief  patronage, 
and  have  at  length  made  up  my  mind  that  a 
family  missionary  society,  properly  conducted, 
would  very  easily  amalgamate  all  those  benevo- 
lent objects  into  one  grand  central  organization  in 
such  a  way  as  must  necessarily  secure  the  entire 
accomplishment  of  the  great  whole. 

I.  The  EXTENT  AND  UNIVERSALITY  OP  THE  Dl- 
VINE  PROMISE  AS  MADE  TO  AbrAM,  IN  WHOSE 
FAMILY  THE  CHURCH  WAS  FIRST  VISIBLY  ORGANIZED, 
AND  IN  THE  TEXT  RENEWED,  REPEATED  AND  CON- 
FIRMED TO  Jacob  and  his  seed. 

II.  The  divinely  appointed  medium  through 

which  THIS  PROMISE  IS  TO  BE  ACCOMPLISHED. 

I.  The  extent  and  universality  of  the  Divine 
promise,  as  made  to  Abram,  in  whose  family  the 
church  was  first  visibly  organized,  and  in  the  text 
renewed,  repeated,  and  confirmed  to  Jacob  and  his 
seed. 

In  the  text  it  is  said,  *  Thy  seed  shall  be  as  the 
9* 


104  THE    CONNECTION    OF    THE    WHOLE 

dust  of  the  earth,  and  thou  shalt  spread  abroad 
to  the  west,  and  to  the  east,  and  to  the  north  and 
to  the  south ;'  and  if  this  does  not  include  the 
whole  earth,  then  certainly  the  latter  part  of  the 
promise  or  covenant  must  fill  up  every  remaining 
vacuum,  '  for  in  thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all 
the  famines  of  the  earth  be  blessed.'  And  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  will  necessarily  include  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth  as  well  as  every  individu- 
al. Who  are  left  out  of  this  enumeration  ?  Who 
can  consistently  regard  himself  as  not  included  in 
the  promise  ?  Who  is  not  at  perfect  liberty  to 
place  himself  under  the  protection  of  this  cove- 
nant ?  But  all  the  families  of  the  earth  have  not 
been  blessed,  for  great  multitudes  of  the  human 
race  are  now  sitting  in  the  region  and  shadow  of 
death,  and  have  never  heard  of  a  Saviour,  nor 
participated  in  the  blessings  and  consolations  of 
the  gospel ;  then  the  promise  has  not  been  wholly 
accomplished.  True,  but  it  is  in  the  course  of 
being  accomplished  in  the  present  rapid  and  uni- 
versal distribution  of  the  Bible,  and  the  success 
that  is  attending  missionary  labors,  and  the  divine 
patronage  that  the  multiphed  benevolent  enter- 
prises of  the  age  experiences.  The  very  spirit 
and  substance  of  the  promise  is  scattered  all  along 
through  the  Bible,  and  repeated  and  confirmed  to 
God's  people  in  different  eras  of  the  church ;  and 


WITH   THE    CONVERSION    OF   THE    WORLD.     105 

they  are  a  perpetuation  of  the  covenant,  and  an 
evidence  of  the  divine  determination  to  accomphsh 
all  he  hath  promised.  While  the  Jews,  by  their 
infidelity,  threw  themselves  from  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  covenant,  yet  they  are  assured, 
upon  their  repentance  and  return  to  God,  of  a  re- 
turn of  the  blessing  in  such  a  sense,  that  their 
latter  end  shall  be  better  than  their  beginning. 
And  not  only  so,  but  Christ  has  promised  to  him 
the  heathen  for  his  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession.  And  as 
Christ  is  the  glorious  and  divine  personage  in 
whom,  or  through  whom,  all  the  famihes  of  the 
earth  are  to  be  blessed,  and  as  in  accordance  with 
the  divine  promise,  he,  the  expected  seed  and  the 
predicted  Shiloh  has  come,  and  is  proclaimed  a 
Saviour  for  all,  in  that  he  hath  tasted  death  for 
every  creature,  so  the  way  is  pre-eminently  pre- 
pared for  the  universal  spread  of  the  gospel. 
Every  middle  wall  of  partition  is  broken  down, 
and  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  entire  ac- 
complishment of  the  whole  promise  of  God  is 
entirely  removed  out  of  the  way,  and  human 
agency  is  being  brought  to  harmonize  with  the  di- 
vine arrangements  and  plans,  and  the  work  of 
the  evangelization  of  the  world  is  going  onward. 

We  are  explicitly  informed  that  the  stone  cut 
out  of  the  mountain  without  hands  shall  become 


106  THE    CONNECTION    OF    THE    WHOLE 

a  great  mountain,  and  fill  the  whole  earth,  and 
there  are  a  multitude  of  promises  that  speak  the 
same  language  in  substance  and  in  spirit.  It  is 
said  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom,  '  Of  the  increase  of 
his  government  and  peace  there  shall  be  no  end. 
He  shall  have  dominion  also  from  sea  to  sea,  and 
from  the  river  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth.  In 
that  day, — In  what  day  ?  At  the  time  when  the 
patriarchal  promise  is  completely  accomplished, 
and  the  gospel  is  being  published  to  the  whole 
world. — '  In  that  day  shall  there  be  upon  the 
bells  of  the  horses  holiness  to  the  Lord ;  and  the 
pots  in  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  like  the  bowls 
before  the  altar.  Yea,  every  pot  in  Jerusalem  and 
Judah  shall  be  hoHness  to  the  Lord  of  hosts.'  Here 
is  a  confirmation  of  the  doctrine  of  the  text,  and 
evidence  that  God  had  not  forgotten  his  original 
promise,  when  the  Jews,  that  is,  the  church,  were 
in  adversity,  and  were  about  to  be  restored  from 
their  Babylonish  captivity.  In  fact,  this  restora- 
tion was  an  earnest  of  the  final  resuscitation  of  the 
remnant  according  to  the  election  of  grace,  and 
the  glorious  consummation  of  all  the  divine  pur- 
poses of  mercy  to  our  world. 

Why  are  we  informed,  *  That  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord, 
and  of  his  Christ ;  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and 
ever  ?'     And  why  is  it  written,   '  For  thou  wast 


WITH    THE    CONVERSION    OF    THE    WORLD.     107 

slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood, 
out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and 
nation ;  and  hast  made  us  unto  our  God  kings  and 
priests  ?'  Has  the  God  of  eternal  truth  made 
such  blessed  and  soul-animating  promises  with  no 
intention  of  fulfilling  them  ?  Hath  God  encour- 
aged us  to  expect  that  the  world  will  be  convert- 
ed, merely  to  tantalize  us,  and  excite  our  curiosity, 
and  put  our  minds  upon  a  perpetual  stretch  to  in- 
vestigate his  word  ?  Hath  God  informed  us  that 
mankind  will  be  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Jesus 
out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and 
nation ;  and  that  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are 
to  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his 
Christ,  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and  ever  ?  and 
are  we  building  castles  in  the  air,  when  we  confi- 
dently pray  and  labor  for  the  latter-day  glory  of 
the  world,  which  kings  and  prophets  desired  so 
anxiously  to  see  ?  And  are  all  our  strong  desires, 
and  fondly  cherished  expectations  of  the  universal 
emancipation  of  a  lost  world  from  the  cruel  bond- 
age of  sin  and  Satan  a  perfect  delusion  ?  If  the 
promise  in  the  text,  sanctioned  by  parallel  prom- 
ises scattered  all  through  the  Bible,  and  the  al- 
ready begun,  and  the  continued  fulfillment  of  that 
very  promise  from  the  time  of  its  uttemnce  to  the 
present  day,  as  developed  in  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  church  to  the  coming  of  Christ ;  and  from 


108  THE    CONNECTION    OF    THE   WHOLE 

that  period,  in  the  scattering  of  the  Jews  among 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  in  the  rise,  pro- 
gress and  history  of  the  Christian  church  to  the 
present  day,  be  not  evidence  of  the  certainty  of 
the  final  and  complete  fulfillment  of  the  promise, 
then  I  can  have  no  evidence  that  the  sun  will  set 
to-night,  or  rise  to-morrow,  or  that  the  world  will 
not  be  drowned  by  a  flood,  the  bow  in  the  eloud 
notwithstanding. 

II.  The  divinely  appointed  medium  through 
which  this  promise  is  to  be  accomplished. 

All,  or  certainly  the  most  prominent  and  distin- 
guished promises  of  God  to  man,  seem  to  be  con- 
nected either  directly  or  indirectly  with  personal 
piety  and  family  religion.  The  history  of  the 
world  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  history  of 
family  religious  education.  If  we  discover  anar- 
chy, confusion,  and  unsubmission  to  the  civil  au- 
thority, it  may  easily  be  traced  to  some  wicked 
Ham  or  Canaan ;  or  if  order,  propriety  and  sub- 
jection to  the  powers  that  prevail,  it  may  as  easily 
be  traced  to  some  faithful  Abram,  or  devoted 
Hannah,  and  their  obedient  children,  Isaac  and 
Samuel.  Historical  fact,  and  the  very  spirit  of 
the  divine  promises,  direct  our  attention  to  family 
religion,  as  the  divinely  appointed  means  to  secure 
the  salvation  of  a  lost  world. 

In  every  family  there  is  necessarily  an  educa- 


"WITH    THE    CONVERSION    OF    THE    WORLD.     109 

tion  society,  in  which  all  the  children  are  instruct- 
ed, and  every  subsequent  act  of  their  lives  partici- 
pates of  the  nature  of  the  education  they  have 
received  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  and  thus  ex- 
hibit in  their  conduct  the  character  of  their  in- 
structors. Here  there  is  the  infant  school,  in 
which  the  mother  principally  and  almost  exclu- 
sively officiates.  Her  very  nod,  and  the  expres- 
sion of  her  countenance,  instantaneously  suppresses 
the  smile  that  sits  upon  the  lips  of  the  helpless 
little  immortal,  or  her  frown  arrests  in  a  moment 
its  first  mischievous  act.  Maternal  approbation, 
expressed  in  the  placidness  of  her  countenance, 
encourages  and  cherishes  the  first  buddings  of  the 
enmity  of  the  carnal  heart.  Here  are  taught  and 
learned  the  first  lessons  that  form  the  future  char- 
acter of  the  man.  Impressions  made  in  this 
school  upon  the  infantile  mind  are  seldom  if  ever 
entirely  obliterated.  And,  alas !  how  often  are 
the  first  buddings  of  evil  highly  approbated,  as 
exhibitions  of  the  precocious  cunning  of  the  lisp- 
ing and  almost  helplesss  infant !  At  this  very  criti- 
cal juncture,  how  easy  to  repress  the  first  risings 
of  iniquity,  but  how  seldom  is  it  done !  Here, 
more  frequently  than  we  imagine,  the  character 
for  life  is  formed  under  the  plastic  tuition  of  ma- 
ternal tenderness.  Here  are  taught  the  first  ele- 
ments of  Christianity,  and  here  originates   that 


110     THE  CONNECTION  OF  THE  WHOLE 

missionary  spirit  which  regulates  the  whole  subse- 
quent life.  Here  S.  J.  Mills  was  taught  that  mis- 
sionary spirit  which  has  been  felt  on  the  arid 
plains  of  Africa,  in  India,  and  upon  the  isles  of  the 
sea.  On  the  lap  of  his  devoted  mother,  and  in 
this  blessed  infant  school,  was  he  solemnly  dedica- 
ted to  the  missionary  work  !  Was  not  this  a 
mighty  moral  engine,  emphatically  calculated  to 
secure  the  entire  accomplishment  of  the  precious 
promise  contained  in  the  text  ? 

How  soon  is  the  Sabbath-school  and  catecheti- 
cal instruction  necessarily  introduced  into  the 
family  arrangement !  How  early  in  life  are  chil- 
dren taught  to  sanctify  or  desecrate  the  holy  Sab- 
bath by  the  example  and  precept  of  their  parents  ! 
With  what  delight  do  parents  listen  to  the  first 
warblings  of  their  infant  offspring !  What  pains 
do  they  take  to  induce  the  babe  to  speak,  and 
enunciate  the  name  of  father  or  mother !  How 
soon  and  how  diligently  do  they  catechise  it,  that 
they  may  ascertain  what  it  can  comprehend ! 
How  easy  now  to  impress  indelibly  upon  their 
infantile  minds  important  and  eternal  truth ! 
Here,  too,  parents  are  instructors  in  this  domestic 
Sabbath-school,  and  every  parent  is  necessarily  a 
teacher.  It  is  an  office  they  must  execute ;  their 
instructions  will  have  an  effect  upon  the  whole 
domestic  circle,  and  its  influence,  whether  good 


WITH    THE    CONVERSION    OF    THE    WORLD.     Ill 

or  bad,  is  not  and  cannot  be  confined  to  that  in- 
dividual family.  It  is  felt  in  the  whole  communi- 
ty, in  the  conduct  of  the  children,  so  that  all  learn 
the  entire  nature  and  character  of  the  education 
they  are  receiving  at  home.  Parents,  then,  are 
the  instructors  of  their  children,  and  it  is  utterly 
impossible  to  escape  or  evade  the  responsibility. 
A  careless  neglect  to  mould  and  form  the  minds  of 
their  children  to  habits  of  virtue,  is  teaching  them 
impiety,  for  parental  indifference  gives  a  full  rein 
to  all  the  unhallowed  principles  and  passions  of 
the  carnal  and  unrenewed  heart.  The  free  indul- 
gence of  children  to  grow  up  in  habits  of  idleness, 
and  inattention  to  the  proper  culture  of  their 
minds,  is  emphatically  teaching  them  evil ;  for  in- 
nocence and  idleness  are  utter  strangers.  Idleness 
is  the  legitimate  parent  of  vice.  Besides,  a  deter- 
mination to  leave  your  children  at  perfect  liberty 
to  form  a  character  independent  of  your  example, 
according  to  the  light  of  nature  and  reason,  is  a 
perfect  impossibility  in  the  very  nature  of  mind. 
The  parental  example  cannot  but  have  an  influence 
upon  the  mind  of  the  child,  who  always  necessa- 
rily looks  up  to  his  parent  as  the  model  of  perfec- 
tion. How  can  the  infantile  and  youthful  mind 
avoid  being  influenced  by  parental  example,  even 
where  there  is  no  special  precept  given  for  the 
regulation  of  their  conduct !  Sometimes  a  pa- 
10 


112     THE  CONNECTION  OF  THE  WHOLE 

rent's  wicked  example  does  compel  the  child, 
■when  it  is  permitted  to  come  within  the  influence 
of  a  virtuous  atmosphere,  to  contemplate  the  pre- 
cept and  example  of  others,  and  in  some  cases 
the  thrillingly  alarming  contrast  does  induce  the 
child  to  avoid  the  example  of  its  wicked  parents. 
This  ordinarily  occurs  when  some  disinterestedly 
pious  individual  assumes  the  dread  responsibility 
of  controllino'  and  directino;  the  education  of 
that  child ;  and  then  that  child  regards  with 
dread  and  horror  the  example  and  precept  of 
that  wicked  parent,  and  in  its  turn  becomes  ex- 
tremely anxious  to  instruct  its  parent.  Hence 
neglect  on  the  part  of  parents  is  calculated  to  re- 
tard the  progress  of  the  gospel  in  the  world,  and 
prevent  the  conversion  of  the  world.  Fidelity  on 
the  part  of  parents  will  prepare  the  way  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  divine  promises. 

But  another  enterprise  here  forces  itself  ujion 
our  attention,  that  is  indispensably  necessary  to 
the  perfecting  of  family  religion.  The  parent 
needs  a  directory  that  is  infallible  and  super- 
human, or  he  will  be  pecuharly  prone  to  err  in 
judgment.  Here,  then,  we  must  introduce  the 
Bible.  In  this  he  is  taught  how  to  instruct  his 
children.  His  precepts  and  example  must  cor- 
respond. "While  he  is  expressly  commanded, 
*  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 


WITH    THE    CONVERSION    OF    THE    WORLD.     113 

heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
might.  And  these  words  which  I  command  thee 
this  day,  shall  be  in  thine  heart ;'  he  is  com- 
manded to  teach  his  children  the  same  things  : 
*  And  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy 
children,  and  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest 
in  thine  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the 
way,  and  when  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou 
risest  up.  And  thou  shalt  bind  them  for  a  sign 
upon  thine  hand,  and  they  shall  be  as  frontlets 
between  thine  eyes.  A.nd  thou  shalt  write  them 
upon  the  posts  of  thy  house,  and  on  thy  gates.' 
These  directions,  faithfully  obeyed  and  followed 
up,  would  soon  convert  the  world.  And  these 
are  divine  directions  for  the  regulation  of  our 
family  religion,  and  perfect  obedience  to  these  in- 
structions will  certainly  constitute  every  family  a 
Sabbath  school,  a  Bible  class,  and  a  Bible  society ; 
and  these,  carried  out  in  their  legitimate  results, 
will  certainly  insure  the  perfect  and  entire  accom- 
plishment of  the  promise  in  our  text.  Having 
then,  according  to  the  divine  plan,  enjoined  upon 
Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and  the  whole  Jewish 
church,  in  the  family  organization,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  an  infant-school,  a  Sabbath-school, 
a  Bible  class,  a  Bible  society,  these  conjointly 
must  open  to  the  benevolent  a  field  of  operation  as 
extensive  as  the  world,  and  originate  a  desire  to 


114  THE    CONNECTION    OF    THE    WHOLE 

do  good  on  an  infinitely  more  extended  plan, 
especially  when  the  length  and  breadth,  and  ex- 
tent, and  universality  of  the  divine  promise  is  con- 
templated, which  made  all  this  arrangement  for 
instituting  and  conducting  family  religion.  How 
can  instruction,  thus  communicated  in  the  family, 
be  confined  to  that  narrow  circle  ?  Can  the  con- 
templation of  such  sweet  and  precious  promises, 
and  the  possibility  of  their  perfect  fulfillment  agi- 
tating hearts  warmed  with  divine  love,  and  excit- 
ing souls  earnestly  to  desire  for  the  salvation  of  a 
lost  world,  as  generated  in  such  domestic  Sab- 
bath-schools, and  education  societies,  be  confined 
to  that  little  circle  ?  As  easily  may  you  confine 
the  meridian  rays  of  the  sun,  and  close  up  the 
door  of  divine  compassion,  and  smother  the  love 
of  God  to  a  guilty  world.  Has  the  eternal  God, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  family  religion,  de- 
vised a  plan  for  all  the  famiHes  of  the  earth  to  be 
blessed,  and  when  that  plan  is  brought  into  oper- 
ation in  one  family,  will  he  crush  the  germ  in  its 
very  bud  ?  He  did  not  do  it  in  the  families  of 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob ;  for,  through  these 
families  and  that  blessed  seed,  how  extensively 
has  the  gospel  already  been  spread  !  He  did  not  do 
it  in  the  mother  of  the  family  of  Samuel  J.  Mills  ; 
and  he  has  not  done  it  in  many  families  that  could 
be  mentioned  in  these  latter  days.    What  is  it  that 


WITH    THE    CONVERSION    OF    THE    WORLD.    IIS 

gives  life  and  energy  to  all  the  benevolent  enter- 
prises of  the  present  age!  Remove  all  family- 
religion  from  Christendom,  and  how  speedily 
would  every  fountain  of  benevolence  be  dried  up  ! 
How  soon  would  every  missionary  station  be 
abandoned !  How  soon  would  '  darkness  cover 
the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people  !'  The 
missionaries  who  have  no  families,  have  felt  the 
want  of  family  religion  to  give  them  influence 
among  the  heathen;  for  while  they  have  no 
families  of  their  own,  they  are  regarded  with 
extreme  jealousy  and  suspicion ;  and  hence  one  of 
them  has  made  the  remark,  *  A  family  circle  is  a 
sanctuary,  which  a  missionary  to  such  a  people 
needs  above  every  other  external  comfort.  While 
it,  in  good  degree,  raises  him  above  suspicion,  it 
concentrates  around  the  fireside  a  thousand  refin- 
ing and  elevating  influences,  which  can  proceed 
from  no  other  source.' — See  Missionary  Herald 
for  March,  1846,  page  99. 

Infer.  I.  In  view  of  this  subject,  as  connected 
with  the  conversion  of  the  world  agreeably  to  the 
divine  plan,  an  immense  responsibility  rests  upon 
the  head  of  every  family.  You  are  a  prominent 
agent  for  the  missionary  society,  whether  foreign 
or  domestic  ;  you  necessarily  exert  a  commanding 
influence ;  you  do  much  for  or  against  the  con- 
version of  the  world ;  the  instructions  you  give 
10* 


116  THE    CONNECTION    OF    THE    WHOLE 

your  family,  by  your  precept  and  example,  will  be 
felt  upon  unborn  generations.  If  one  sinner  de- 
stroys much  good,  then  the  wicked  example  and 
precept  of  one  head  of  a  family  will  do  incalcu- 
lable injury.  You  are  placed  in  a  veiy  prominent 
and  commanding  station  ;  and  God  has  placed 
you  there  to  be  a  blessing  to  your  family,  and, 
through  them,  a  blessing  to  imborn  millions. 
Has  the  covenant  blessing  descended  to  you 
through  an  unbroken  chain,  through  thousands  of 
generations  ?  Are  you  enjoying  the  sweet  con- 
solations of  the  Christian  rehgion  in  your  own 
soul  ?  And  do  you  feel  it  to  be  a  privilege  to 
have  been  born  and  educated  in  a  gospel  land, 
and  to  have  lived  under  the  very  droppings  of  the 
sanctuary  and  the  family  altar  ?  And  are  you  not 
solemnly  bound,  by  every  possible  means  in  your 
power,  to  perpetuate  these  rich  covenant  blessings 
to  your  family,  and  use  every  effort  to  transmit 
them  to  all  the  families  of  the  earth  ?  Can  you 
be  exonerated  from  blame,  if  you  neglect  to  have 
a  domestic  Sabbath-school,  and  an  education  and 
missionary  society  in  your  own  family  ?  As  your 
family  is  incorporated  in  that  one  perfect  chain  of 
families  from  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  to  that 
period  when  all  the  families  of  the  earth  are  to  be 
blessed,  so  your  neglect  of  duty,  which  breaks 
one  link  in  that  chain,  will  be  calculated  to  break 


WITH    THE    CONVERSION    OF    THE    WORLD.     Il7 

the  chain,  and  arrest  the  perpetuity  of  the  bless- 
ing, and  entail  the  curse  of  God  upon  your  pos- 
terity. I  know  very  well  that  God  has  things  so 
wisely  arranged  in  his  providential  government,  as 
to  insure  the  full  success  and  entire  completion  of 
his  promise  to  bless  all  the  families  of  the  earth 
through  the  glorious  Gospel  of  his  dear  Son;  I 
know,  too,  that  though,  by  your  infidelity  and  ne- 
glect of  covenantal  duties,  you  make  a  mighty 
effort  to  break  away  from  the  conditions  of  the 
covenant,  and  thus  arrest  the  perpetuation  of  the 
blessing,  God  will  so  overrule  your  wickedness 
that  it  will  not  retard  the  fulfilment  of  his  pro- 
mise. But  are  you  willing  to  be  deprived  of  your 
place  in  that  covenant  chain  of  family  blessings  ? 
Are  you  wilhng  to  take  the  responsibility  of 
making  an  effort  to  defeat  the  divine  plans  of 
benevolence  ?  Are  you  willing  to  be  the  medium 
of  entaihng  curses  upon  your  posterity  ?  Are  you 
willing  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  conversion  of 
the  world  ?    ' 

Infer.  II.  In  view  of  this  subject,  v/e  discover 
the  simplicity  of  the  divine  plan  for  the  conver" 
sion  of  the  world — even  so  simple  and  plain,  that 
every  one  can  easily  compreheijd  it,  and  as  easily 
reduce  it  to  practice.  It  is  a  plan  in  which  all 
can  perform  a  part.  Parents  and  children,  rich 
and  poor,  the  learned  and  the  ignorant,  the  states- 


118  THE    CONNECTION    OF    THE    WHQLE 

man  and  the  peasant,  the  profound  philosopher, 
and  he  that  has  a  weak  intellect,  may  do  some- 
thing to  forward  the  glorious  work  of  carrying 
salvation  to  all  the  families  of  the  earth.  A  part 
of  God's  greatness  consists  in  accomplishing  great 
and  stupendous  enterprises  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  things  that  are  denominated  weak 
and  inefficient.  Hence  it  is  written :  '  God  hath 
chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound 
the  wise ;  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things 
of  the  world  to  confound  the  things  which  are 
mighty.'  Hence  the  little  family  circle  is  to  deter- 
mine the  destiny  of  the  world !  How  high  an 
estimate,  then,  must  the  eternal  God  set  upon 
family  religion !  Family  religion  is  the  little  in- 
ternal machinery  that  moves  all  the  stupendous 
and  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  age,  that  are 
shaking  the  strongholds  of  the  pagan  and  heathen 
world.  Though  the  family  be  in  the  vale  of 
poverty  and  obscurity,  and  have  never  been  seen 
half  a  mile  from  home  ;  and  though  they  may  be 
lost  in  the  multiphcity  of  famihes  more  noted, 
with  which  they  are  surrounded ;  yet  they  pro- 
duce an  under-current  that  cannot  be  successfully 
resisted,  and  in  the  final  consummation  they  will 
emerge  from  their  deep  obscurity,  and  bring 
countless  and  invaluable  blessings  in  their  train. 
With  what  little  effort  and  self-denial  may  we  all 


WITH    THE    CONVERSION    OF    THE    WORLD.     119 

be  found  workers  together  with  God  !  His  plan 
is  brought  down  to  the  level  of  the  very  poorest, 
that  the  prayers  of  all  and  the  interest  of  all  may 
be  concentrated  to  one  point — the  glory  of  God 
in  the  salvation  of  the  world.  How  easy  is  it  for 
every  family  to  have  a  missionary  box,  and  each 
individual  to  drop  a  cent  or  more  every  week  into 
that  box !  Then  something  will  be  done  syste- 
matically, and  no  family  will  feel  it;  and  yet, 
when  all  these  mites  are  collected  together  and 
cast  into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord,  it  will  amount 
to  a  considerable  sum — a  sum  that  will  cause  us 
to  feel  a  deep  interest  in  the  missionary  operations 
of  the  age.  If  we  feel  a  deep  and  lively  interest 
in  these  missionary  operations,  we  shall  feel  a  dis- 
position to  pray  more  for  the  conversion  of  the 
world  ;  and  to  the  missionary  this  is  emphatically 
desirable.  We  shall  then,  too,  feel  proportionably 
more  desirous  for  the  success  and  growth  of  vital 
religion  in  our  own  souls,  and  in  that  portion  of 
the  Lord's  heritage  where  Providence  hath  cast  our 
lot.  This  will  kindle  a  little  flame  of  divine  love 
around  each  domestic  hearth,  that  will  exert  a 
salutary  and  life-giving  influence  upon  the  whole 
community,  and  cause  all  to  experience  more  in- 
tellectual enjoyment,  and  generate  a  genuine  dig- 
nity of  character  and  self-respect,  that  will  put  a 
new  aspect  upon  everything,  and  greatly  elevate 


120  THE    CONNECTION    OF    THE    WHOLE 

the  morality  and  intelligence  of  the  community. 
We  shall  then  learn  from  our  own  experience  that 
'  the  liberal  soul  shall  be  made  fat ;  and  he  that 
watereth  shall  be  watered  also  himself.'  Benevo- 
lence exercised  towards  others  will  rebound  in 
redoubled  blessings  upon  our  own  souls.  There 
is  something  peculiarly  mysterious  and  wonderful 
in  the  divine  plan  of  doing  good,  for  it  is  always 
sme  to  benefit  the  giver;  so  that  'It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.'  As  we  cannot 
injure  others  without  injuring  ourselves,  so  we  can- 
not do  good  to  others  without  proportionably 
benefiting  our  own  souls.  This  divine  enterprise 
of  family  religion  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel 
through  the  world,  is  wonderfully  calculated  to 
happify  not  only  families,  but  the  whole  com- 
munity. It  gives  every  member  of  the  family 
something  to  do,  something  to  occupy  the  mind 
and  elevate  the  standard  of  intelligence,  which 
imposes  upon  each  one  a  great  degree  of  personal 
responsibility.  It  takes  the  mind  away  from  the 
supreme  contemplation  of  ourselves,  and  con- 
strains us  to  meditate  upon  the  situation  and 
miseries  of  our  fellow- men  ;  and  as  we  are  divinely 
exhorted  to  *  remember  them  that  are  in  bonds, 
as  bound  with  them ;  and  them  which  suffer  ad- 
versity, as  being  yourselves  also  in  adversity ;'  so 
we  very  naturally  and  imperceptibly  lose  sight  of 


WITH   THE    CONVERSION    OF    THE     WORLD.     121 

oiu*  diminutive  self  in  our  sympathetic  benevo- 
lence for  those  who  are  so  much  worse  oflF  than 
we  ourselves.  This  sympathetic  benevolence  hav- 
ing once  found  a  lodgment  in  our  bosoms,  enlarges 
and  expands  the  mind,  breaks  down  the  strong 
bonds  of  prejudice,  dislodges  envy  from  the  soul, 
banishes  and  exterminates  covetousness  (which  is 
idolatry)  from  the  family,  generates  that  charity 
which  rejoices  in  the  prosperity  of  others,  and  so 
liberalizes  the  mind  that  every  narrow  and  con- 
tracted scheme  is  abandoned,  and  we  are  prepared 
to  engage  heartily  in  every  good  work.  And 
when  the  minds  of  the  whole  family  circle  are  so 
entirely  saturated  with  benevolence  as  to  do  to 
others  what  they  would  that  others  should  do  to 
them,  then  the  naked  are  clothed,  the  hungry  are 
fed,  and  the  poor  and  the  destitute  have  the  Gos- 
pel preached  unto  them ;  then  do  happiness  and 
peace  reign  in  that  family,  and  heaven  has  begun 
in  their  souls,  and  the  donor  and  the  beneficiary 
rejoice  together;  and  sometimes  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  determine  which  is  the  most  grateful, 
the  giver  or  the  receiver. 

'Now,  if  every  family  in  the  whole  community 
were  completely,  in  all  their  parts,  saturated  with 
this  divine  benevolence ;  if  prejudice,  envy,  super- 
stition, bigotry,  and  covetousness  were  so  ob- 
literated from  every  mind  in  that  whole  community 


122  THE    CONNECTION    OF    THE    WHOLE 

as  to  fit  and  prepare  them  all  to  be  workers  to- 
gether with  God;  then  should. we  see  this  divine 
enterprise,  based  upon  the  grand  principle  of  the 
Abrahamic  covenant,  rapidly  perfecting  the  divine 
promises,  and  blessing  all  the  falnilies  of  the 
earth. 

When  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  gave  his  solemn 
and  immensely  responsible  commission  to  his  dis- 
ciples, immediately  previous  to  his  ascension  into 
heaven,  saying,  '  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,'  it  was  in 
perfect  accordance  with  the  original  promise  of 
salvation  to  all  the  families  of  the  earth.  Christ 
himself  being  the  promised  seed,and  the  expected 
Shiloh  in  whom  all  the  promises  centred,  it  was 
meet  and  proper  that  he  should  give  a  new  im- 
pulse to  the  work.  This  was  emphatically  done 
by  bis  mission,  which  afforded  miraculous  evidence 
that  God  remembered  his  covenant,  and  by  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost ;  and  hence  Peter  alludes,  very  decidedly  and 
significantly,  to  the  original  covenant,  as  if  it  were 
obligatory,  and  actually  accomplishing,  for  he 
says :  *  The  promise  is  unto  you  and  to  your  chil- 
dren, and  to  all  that  are  afar  oflP,  even  as  many  as 
the  Lord  our  God  shall  call.'  Nothing,  in  all 
these  miraculous  exhibitions  of  divinity,  was  in 
contrariety  with  this  grand  model  of  missionary 


WITH   THE  CONYERSIO^T    OF   THE   TTORLD.       123 

effort  that  is  set  before  us  in  the  text.  Eveiything 
that  Christ  said  and  did  was,  in  fact,  carrying  on- 
ward and  forward  the  divine  plan  for  the  con- 
version of  the  world,  and  preparing  the  way  for 
Christ  to  have  the  heathen  for  his  inheritance,  and 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession, 
and  to  see  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied. 
As  every  father  is  the  divinely  installed  minister 
over  his  own  household,  and  the  shepherd  of  that 
little  flock  which  he  daily  finds  in  the  domestic 
circle,  so  he  necessarily  finds  himself  amalgamated 
and  incorporated  in  the  divine  plan  suggested  by 
the  text,  and  imperfectly  developed  in  this  ser- 
mon, and  in  the  history  of  the  church  and  the 
di\dne  moral  government  of  the  world.  In  pro- 
perly maintaining  and  managing  our  family  re- 
hgion,  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Abra- 
hamic  covenant — *  For  I  know  him,  that  he  will 
command  his  household  after  him,  and  they  shall 
keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  do  justice  and 
judgment,  that  the  Lord  may  bring  upon  Abraham 
that  which  he  hath  spoken  of  him' — we  have  in 
our  possession  the  very  germ  of  the  church,  the 
nucleus  of  every  missionaiy  enterprise,  and  the 
very  core  of  every  benevolent  institution.  If  we 
have  so  much  in  our  possession,  then  certainly 
all  these  means  of  grace  are  so  under  our  control, 
that  we  can  very  easily  give  efficiency  to  all  their 
11 


124  THE   C02TKECTI0N   OF   THE   WHOLE 

movements,  or  we  may  as  easily  retard  their  salu- 
tary operations.  We  cannot  make  a  moral  move- 
ment around  our  domestic  liearth  without  touching 
some  hidden  nerve  or  chord  that  will  pulsate 
through  the  whole  church,  and  be  felt,  more  or 
less  sensibly,  in  every  part  of  the  Christian,  hea- 
then, and  pagan  world.  Look  at  the  sensation 
produced  by  the  prayers,  piety,  and  devotion  of 
S.  J.  Mills'  mother.  Its  thrills  have  not  ceased 
to  vibrate  through  the  world,  whether  Jewish, 
Christian,  pagan,  or  heathen,  and  cannot  cease 
till  the  church  is  consummated  in  glory.  The 
church  that  is  in  thine  house,  or  the  family  mis- 
sionary society,  is  a  kind  of  spiritual  magnetic 
telegraph,  by  which  the  magnetic  fluid  passes 
with  the  greatest  imaginable  rapidity  through 
every  part  of  the  divine  moral  government. 

j^ow,  if  every  family  throughout  Christendom 
were  a  church,  with  an  altar  on  which  the  morn- 
ing and  evening  sacrifice  was  ever  burning,  and 
around  every  altar  was  organized  a  family  mis- 
sionary society,  and  every  soul  fired  with  a  genu- 
ine missionary  spirit,  how  long  would  those  flames 
remain  pent  up  in  those  domestic  churches  ?  How 
long  before  all  these  twinkling  luminaries  would 
commingle  their  flames  into  one  grand  fountain  of 
light,  that  would  irradiate  every  benighted  part 
of  our  globe  ?     And  as  every  ray  increases  that 


WITH  THE    CONVERSION    OF   THE  WORLD.       12ff. 

fountain  of  light,  and  proportionably  magnifies  its 
splendor  and  utility,  and  sends  an  additional  thrill 
of  joy  among  glorified  and  redeemed  souls,  so, 
who  in  this  assembly  would  be  willing  to  be  found 
destitute  of  a  missionary  spirit  ?  What  head  of 
a  family  does  not  wish  to  be  enumerated  among 
those  twinkling  luminaries  that,  conjoined,  pour 
such  a  flood  of  light,  of  glory,  and  of  happiness 
upon  a  lost  world  ? 


OATALoara 

OF 

VALUABLE   PUBLICATIONS, 

ISSUED  BY  M.  W.  DODD, 
PUBLISHER    AND    BOOKSELLER, 

Cor.  ©Its  3^aU  Square  anti  Spruce  St. 

(opposite    city   hall,   new   YORK.) 


CHARLOTTE    ELIZABETH'S  WORKS, 

"WITH     AN    INTRODUCTION 

BY  MRS.   HARRIET  BEECHER   STOWE. 

2  Volumes,  Octavo. 

CONTADflNG  PORTRAIT  OF  THE  AUTHOR  ON  STEEL, 

WITH  SEVERAL  OTHER  ILLUSTRATIONS, 

ENGRAVED    EXPRESSLY    FOR    THE     WORK. 

The  Publisher  invites  the  attention  of  the  public  to  this  new  Editloa 
of  one  of  the  most  popular  and  useful  writers  of  the  present  age. 
'  It  contains,  in  the  compass  of  nearly  1700  large  octavo  pages,  all  the 
productions,  in  Prose  and  Poetry,  of  this  admirable  authoress,  suited  to 
a  Standard  Edition  of  her  Work'?.  Several  of  these  were  furnished  in 
manuscript  for  this  edition  by  Mrs.  Tonna,  which  has  her  express  en- 
dorsement, and  is  the  only  one  in  this  country  from  which  she  has  de- 
rived any  pecuniary  benefit. 

To  give  additional  value  to  the  work  by  iliustrating  and  enibellishlng 
it,  we  have,  at  considerable  expense,  added  to  it  several  Engravings 
from  Steele,  got  up  expressly  for  this  purpose.  It  is  believed  few  works 
can  be  found  surpassing  these  in  value  for  family  reading.  They  com- 
bine, to  an  unusual  degree,  an  elevated  moral  tone,  with  reading  attrac- 
tive to  both  old  and  young.  And  for  the  requisites  of  beauty,  cheapness, 
and  legibility  combined,  this  edition  of  Charlotte  Elizabeth's  works  is 
not  excelled  by  anything  in  the  market. 

The  last  edition  contains  her  Memoir  by  her  husband,  designed  to  be 
a  Supplement  to  Personal  Recollections,  and  embracing  the  period  from 
the  close  of  her  Personal  Recollections  to  her  death.  Also,  "  War  with 
the  Saints  ;  or,  Count  Raymond  of  Toulouse,"— the  work  she  finished 
almost  simultaneously  with  her  earthly  career. 

1 


OP rN IONS    OF   THE   PRESS. 

*•  Charlotte  Elizabeth's  Works  have  become  so  univer- 
sally known,  and  are  so  highly  and  deservedly  appreciated 
in  this  country,  that  it  has  become  almost  superfluous  to 
praise  them.  We  doubt  exceedingly  whether  there  has 
been  any  female  writer  since  Hannah  More,  whose  works 
are  likely  to  be  so  extensively  read  and  so  profitably  read 
as  hers  She  thinks  deeply  and  accurately,  is  a  great  an- 
alyst of  the  human  heart,  and  withal  clothes  her  ideas  in 
most  appropriate  and  eloquent  language.  The  present 
edition,  unlike  any  of  its  predecessors  in  this  country,  is 
in  octavo  form,  and  makes  a  fine  substantial  book,  which, 
both  in  respect  to  the  outer  and  inner,  will  be  an  ornament 
to  any  library." — Albany  Argus. 

"  These  productions  constitute  a  bright  relief  to  the 
bad  and  corrupting  literature  in  which  our  age  is  so 
prolific,  full  of  practical  instruction,  illustrative  of  the 
beauty  of  Protestant  Christianity,  and  not  the  less  abound- 
ing in  entertaining  description  and  narrative." — Journal 
of  Commerce. 

*'  In  justice  to  the  publisher  and  to  the  public,  we  add 
that  this  edition  of  Charlotte  Elizabeth's  Works  will  form 
a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  Christian  and  Family  Libra- 
ry."— Christian  Observer. 

"  We  experience  a  sense  of  relief  in  turning  from  the 
countless  small  volumes,  though  neat  and  often  ornate, 
that  the  press  is  constantly  throwing  in  our  way,  to  a 
bold,  substantial- looking  octavo  of  850  pages,  in  plain 
black  dress,  with  a  bright,  cheerful  countenance,  such  as 
the  volumes  before  us.  Of  the  literary  characteristics  of 
Charlotte  Elizabeth  \se  have  had  frequent  occasion  to 
speak.  Her  merits  and  defects  are  too  well  known  to 
need  recapitulation  here." — JVewark  Daily  Advertiser. 

This  third  volume  completes  this  elegant  octavo  edition 
of  the  works  of  this  popular  and  useful  author.  The 
works  themselves  are  so  well  known  as  not  to  need  com- 
mendation. The  edition  we  are  disposed  to  speak  well 
of.  It  is  in  clear  type,  on  fine  paper,  and  makes  a  beauti- 
ful series.  It  is,  moreover,  very  cheap." — JVew  York 
Evangelist. 


X7E  ALSO  PUBLISH  THE   FOLLOWING  OF  CHARLOTTE  ELIZ- 
ABETH'S WORKS,    IN    UNIFORM,  NEAT    18mo.    VOLS., 
VARYING    FROM    25     TO    50    CENTS    PER    VOL 
2 


Boohs  Published  and  for  Sale  by  M.  W.  Lddd. 

LIFE  OF  CHARLOTTE  ELIZABETH. 

l6mo. 

With  a  new  and  accurate  Portrait^  finely  engraved  on  steel,  expressly 
for  this  volume. 

"  We  doubt  if  the  lives  of  many  females  are  blended  with 
more  incidents  and  richer  lessons  of  instruction  and  wisdom, 
than  the  life  of  Charlotte  Elizabeth.  It  will  be  found  as  cap- 
tivating as  any  romance,  and  will  leave  on  the  mind  a  lasting 
impression  for  good.  Mr.  Dodd's  edition  before  us,  is  certainly 
a  very  beautiful  one,  and  we  hope  will  commend  itself  to  many 
readers.  Over  three  hundred  pages  of  the  work  are  occupied 
with  Charlotte  Elizabeth's  Personal  Recollections.  Mr.  Tonna 
has  added  Explanatory  Notes,  and  a  Memoir,  embracing  the 
period  from  the  close  of  her  Personal  Recollections  to  her  death. 
It  is  embellished  with  a  finely  executed  portrait  of  Charlotte 
Elizabeth,  which  is  said  to  be  an  excellent  likeness  of  its  la- 
mented original." — Albojiy  Spectator. 

"  Mr.  Dodd  of  New  York  has  published,  in  a  handsome  vol- 
ume, the  Personal  Recollections  of  Charlotte  Elizabeth,  accom- 
panied by  a  Memoir,  embracing  the  period  from  the  close  of 
the  work  just  named  to  the  time  of  her  death,  thus  giving  a 
connected  and  interesting  Memoir  of  her  life.  The  biographi- 
cal sketches  of  the  life  of  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  gifted 
female  writers  of  the  nineteenth  century,  thus  united  in  one 
volume,  will  be  peculiarly  acceptable."—  Phil.  Christ.  Observer. 

"Mr,  M.  W.  Dodd,  writes  a  friend,  has  opportunely  brought 
out  a  new  and  beautiful  edition  of  the  Life  of  Charlotte  Eliza- 
beth. Its  intrinsic  value  and  interest  are  too  widely  known 
to  need  our  commendation ;  but  this  edition  is  rendered  doubly 
attractive  by  a  portrait,  engraved  expressly  for  it,  and  said  to 
be  remarkably  accurate.  We  have,  with  this,  a  bold  auto- 
graph, in  very  much  such  a  hand  as  might  be  expected  from 
one  who  wrote  so  much  and  so  well." — Neioark  Daily  Ad- 
vertiser. 

"  It  is  a  beautiful  book,  and  presents  a  complete  biography 
of  a  truly  pious  and  remarkable  woman,  whose  excellent 
writings  have  interested  and  benefitted  thousands,  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  are  destined  to  be  a  lasting  blessing 
to  the  Church  and  to  the  world." — Baptist  Register. 

"  A  new  and  beautiful  edition  of  this  work,  with  additional 
ma  cer  of  interest,  which  will  be  sought  by  the  many  ad- 
m  ers  of  that  gifted  and  distinguished  writer." — New  York 
O'jserver. 

3 


Boohs  Published  and  for  Sale  by  M.  W.  Dodd. 

CHARLOTTE  ELIZABETH'S  WORKS. 

IN  18mo.  VOLUMES. 

JUDAH'S    LION. 

"  In  a  sprightly,  well-written  narrative,  containing  scenes  of  high  dnh 
matic  interest;  it  portrays  the  character  and  hopes  of  the  Jews  in  their 
dispersion,  and  points  to  the  means  which  may  be  blessed  in  restoring 
them  to  the  faith  of  Abraham,  in  the  true  Messiah." — Phila.  Observer. 

"  Individuality  of  character  is  faithfully  preserved,  and  every  one  is 
necessary  to  the  plot.  The  reader  will  find  in  this  book  much  informa- 
tion that  he  can  only  find  elsewhere  by  very  laborious  research.  Char- 
lotte Elizabeth  is  a  firm  believer  in  the  national  restoration  of  the  Jews 
to  the  possession  of  Palestine,  but  believes  they  wiU  previously  be  con- 
verted to  Christianity.  We  advise  our  friends  not  to  take  up  this  book 
until  they  can  spare  time  for  the  perusal ;  because,  if  they  commence,  it 
will  require  much  self-denial  to  lay  it  down  until  it  is  fairly  read 
through." — Christian  Adv.  and  Jour. 

THE     FLONA^ER    GARDEN. 

A  collection  of  deeply  interesting  Memoirs,  beautifully 
illustrated  under  the  similitude  of  flowers. 

POSTHUMOUS  AND  OTHER  POEMS. 

*'  Most  of  the  Poems  contained  in  this  volume,  now  appear  for  the  flrsl 
time,  and  have  been  furnished  chiefly  by  the  friends  to  whom  they  were 
addressed.  They  breathe  the  same  heavenly  spirit,  and  bear  the  im- 
press of  the  same  gifted  mind,  with  all  the  other  productions  of  tho  la- 
mented Authoress." — Albany  Statesman. 

FALSEHOOD    AND    TRUTH. 

**  A  beautiful  and  instructive  volume,  worthy  to  be  put  into  the  hands 
of  all  children  and  youth,  as  a  choice  token  of  parental  solicitude  for 
their  preservation  from  insidious  errors,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Few  there  are  indeed  of  any  age  who  can  read  'A 
without  equal  profit  and  pleasure." — Boston  Recorder. 

CONFORMITY. 

"  We  read  this  little  volume  with  great  a*id  unqualified  satisf;iction. 
We  wish  we  could  induce  every  professor  of  religion  in  our  large  cities, 
*nd  indeed  all  who  are  in  any  way  exposed  to  contact  with  the  fashiona 
ble  world,  to  read  it.  The  author,  in  this  little  work,  fully  sustains  hex 
high  reputation  as  a  very  accomplished  and  superior  writer,  and  the 
staunch  advocate  of  Evangelical  principles,  carried  out  and  made  influ 
•ntial  upon  the  whole  life  and  conduct." — Epis.  Recorder. 


Books  Pvhlished  and  for  Sale  by  M.  W.  Dodd. 


CHARLOTTE    ELIZABETH  S    WORKS CONTINUED. 

COUNT  RAYMOND  OF  TOULOUSE, 

And  the  Crusadk  against  the  Albigenses,  under  Popb 
Innocent  III.  By  Charlotte  Elizabeth.  Illustrated 
edition.     l6mo. 

•'The  subject  of  this  volume,  and  the  spirited  style  In  which  it  Is 
written,  will  command  for  it  an  extensive  circulation;  but  it  derives 
an  additional  interest  from  the  fact  that  it  was  the  last  work  which 
proceeded  from  the  prolific  pen  of  Charlotte  Elizabeth.  It  occupied 
much  of  her  time  and  thoughts  during  the  last  eighteen  months  of  her 
life,  and  her  earthly  existence  came  to  a  close  almost  at  the  same  mo- 
ment."— Christian  Advocate  and  Journal. 

"  The  first  thing  we  have  to  say  of  this  work  is,  that  it  is  one  of 
Charlotte  Elizabeth's  best ;  the  next,  that  there  is  much  in  a  name,  or, 
in  other  words,  that  the  work  has  now  got  a  title,  which  tells  the  pub- 
lic just  what  it  is ;  that  it  is  admirably  illustrated,  in  most  perfect  Cruik- 
shank  style;  and,  lastly,  that  it  forms  a  delightful  and  valuable  Gift 
Book." — JlLbany  Spectator. 

"It  is  a  striking,  life-like  picture  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Albigenses, 
mingling  the  facts  of  history  with  sketches  of  personal  character,  and 
individual  heroism,  in  a  manner  to  excite  an  interest,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  instruct.  It  is  a  historical  episode,  replete  with  important  les- 
sons."— JVjw  York  Evangelist. 

"The  book  will  commend  itself,  as  treating  of  incidents  of  thrilling 
Importance,  and  on  its  own  merits  will  secure  a  reading,  while  circum- 
stances combine  to  invest  it  with  peculiar  interest,  in  the  view  of  all 
who  love  to  see  female  talent  exerted  in  the  cause  of  religion  and 
truth." — Herald  of  Religious  Liberty. 

WRONGS    OF    WOMEN. 

Part  I.  .  '  Milliners  aivd  Dressmakers  ;'  TI.  *  Thk 
Forsaken  Home;  III.  'The.  Little  Pin -Headers  ;* 
IV.  *  The  Lace  Runners.' 

"  Is  now  published  in  handsomely  bound  volumes  by  M-  W  Dodd. 
These  are  the  most  popular  and  intensely  interesting  stories  from  the 
ever-moving  pen  of  Charlotte  Elizabeth,  and  we  are  desirous  to  see  them 
widely  read.  They  are  eminently  calculated  to  awaken  sympathy  for 
the  oppressed  and  the  poor,  and  we  therefore  take  pleasure  in  calling  to 
them  the  attention  of  our  kind-hearted  readers." — N.  Y.  Observer. 

"  This  volume  contains  Charlotte  Elizabeth's  most  graphic,  truthful, 
and  pathetic  expressions  of  the  '  Wrongs  of  Women.'  She  has  come  out 
as  the  champion  of  her  sex,  and  if  they  have  no  such  wrongs  to  be  re- 
dressed in  this  country,  they  have  thousands  who  sympathize  with  their 
enslaved  sisters  in  Great  Britain." — lb. 

"  The  authoress  of  the  '  Wrongs  of  Women/  Charlotte  Elizabeth,  haj 
portrayed  them  in  terms  of  exquisite  pathos  and  heart-moving  tender- 
ness. Eloquently  and  forcibly  has  she  denounced  the  inhuman  policy 
out  of  which  they  have  grown;  and  with  all  the  susceptibilities  and 
ovenvhelming  influences  of  woman's  affections,  she  approaches  the  sub- 
ject in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  bring  some  alleviation,  some  mitigation 
of  the  mental  and  physical  degradation  of  her  sex."— .l^nerican  {Boston) 
Traveller.  5 


Books  Published  and /or  Sale  by  M.  W.  Dodd. 


THE  DESERTER. 

•*  We  have  never  (we  speak  advisedly)  read  a  story  that  more  entirely 
enchained  us  than  this.  We  are  not  quite  sure  how  much  of  it  la 
fancy,  and  how  much  fact ;  but  we  rather  suppose  that  the  outline  is 
veritable  history,  while  the  filling  up  may  have  been  drawn  partly  from 
the  author's  imagination.  The  principal  hero  of  the  story  is  a  young 
Irishman,  who  was  lead  through  the  influence  of  one  of  his  comrades, 
to  enlist  in  the  British  Army,  contrary  to  the  earnest  entreaties  of  his 
mother,  and  who  went  on  from  one  step  to  another  in  the  career  of  crime 
till  he  was  finally  shot  as  a  deserter ;  though  not  till  after  he  had  practi- 
cally embraced  the  Gospel.  The  account  of  the  closing  scene  is  one  of 
Ihe  finest  examples  of  pathetic  description  that  we  remember  to  have  met 
(Vith.  The  whole  work  illustrates  with  great  beauty  and  power  the 
iownward  tendencies  of  profligacy,  the  power  of  divine  grace  to  subdue 
the  hardest  heart,  and  the  encouragement  that  Christians  have  never 
to  despair  of  the  salvation,  even  of  those  who  seem  to  have  thrown 
themselves  at  the  greatest  distance  from  divine  mexcY-''''— Albany  Daily 
Citizen. 

"  This  is  one  of  the  happiest  efibrts  of  this  exceedingly  popular  writer. 
Its  great  aim  appears  to  be  to  exhibit  the  truly  benevolent  influence  of 
real  piety  upon  the  heart  of  man,  as  well  as  the  degrading  nature  of  sin. 
The  narrative  is  admirably  sustained— the  waywardness  of  the  unre- 
generate  exhibited  in  living  colors,  and  so  interspersed  with  sketches  of 
the  *  soldier's  life,'  as  to  add  a  thrilling  interest  to  the  whole.  It  forms 
a  neat  library  volume  of  near  S50  pages,  and  is  handsomely  printed  and 
bound  in  cloth." — Auburn  Journal. 

"  One  of  the  happiest  productions  of  the  author.  The  narrative  is 
well  sustained,  and  the  personages  and  character  are  true  to  nature  ** 
—Commercial  Advertiser. 

COMBINATION. 

"  This  is  a  tale,  founded  on  facts,  from  the  gifted  pen  of  Charlotte  Eliz* 
abeth.  It  is  well  written,  and  contains  the  very  best  of  advice.  It  lays 
down  with  great  force  the  mighty  truth,  that  without  Religion  there 
can  be  no  virtue  ;  and  that  without  the  fear  and  love  of  God,  man  will 
Inevitably  be  dashed  on  the  rocks  of  irredeemable  ruin.  Religion  is  the 
Sheet  Anchor,  the  only  protection  to  hold  by  in  the  hour  of  violent 
temptation ;  but  if  that  be  lost,  all  is  over.  Such  little  works  as  these 
are  eminently  calculated  to  produce  a  vast  amount  of  good  ;  and  there- 
fore let  the  heads  of  families  place  them  upon  their  table  for  the  benefit 
of  their  children. 

"  In  no  better  way  could  an  evening  be  spent  than  by  having  it  read 
aloud,  that  a  warning  may  be  taken  from  the  folly  of  others,  and  that 
the  course  which  has  led  them  to  ignominy  and  disgrace  maybe  most 
sarefully  avoided." — Boston  American  Traveller 

THE  DAISY— THE  YEW  TREE, 

Chapters  on  Flowers, 

Three  most  delightful  little  volumes,  made  up  in  part  from 
her  very  popular  Flower  Garden  Tales  for  those  who  prefer 
them  in  smaller  volumes. 
6 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  by  M.  W.  Dodd. 


JUD/EA  CARTA. 

•Judaea  Capta,'  the  last  offering  from  the  pen  of  this  gifted  and  pop- 
«iai  writer,  will  be  esteemed  as  one  of  her  best  works.  It  is  a  graphte 
aarrative  of  the  invasion  of  Judea  by  the  Roman  legions  under  Vespa- 
sian and  Titus,  presenting  affecting  views  of  the  desolation  of  her  towns 
and  cities,  by  the  ravages  of  iron-hearted,  bloodthirsty  soldiers,  and  of 
the  terrible  catastrophe  witnessed  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
The  narrative  is  interspersed  with  the  writer's  views  of  the  literal  ful 
filment  of  prophecy  concerning  the  Jews,  as  illustrated  in  their  extnt- 
ordinary  history,  and  with  remarks  contemplating  their  returning  pros- 
perity. Her  occasional  strictiu-es  on  the  historj'of  the  apostate  Josephus, 
who  evidently  wrote  to  please  his  imperial  masters,  appear  to  haw 
fceen  well  merited.  The  work  is  issued  in  an  attractive  and  handsome 
volume." — Christian  Observer. 

"  If  the  present  should  prove  to  be  Charlotte  Elizabeth's  last  work, 
she  could  not  desire  to  take  her  departure  from  the  field  of  literature 
with  a  better  grace  ;  and  we  doubt  not  that  it  will  be  considered,  if  not 
the  best,  yet  among  the  best  of  her  productions.  It  is  full  of  scripture 
truth,  illustrated  by  the  charm  of  a  most  powerful  eloquence ;  and  no 
one,  we  should  suppose,  could  read  it  without  feeling  a  fresh  interest 
in  behalf  of  the  Jewish  nation,  and  a  deeper  impression  of  the  truth 
and  greatness,  and  ultimate  triumph  of  Christianity." — Albany  Daily 
Jidvertiser. 

"This  volume  -contains  a  description  of  some  of  the  most  terrific 
scenes  of  which  this  earth  has  been  the  theatre.  But  instead  of  con 
templating  them  merely  as  a  part  of  the  world's  history,  it  takes  into 
view  their  connection  with  the  great  scheme  of  Providence,  and  shows 
how  the  faithful  and  retributive  hand  of  God  is  at  work  amidst  the 
fiercest  tempest  of  human  passion.  The  work  contains  no  small  por- 
tion of  history,  a  very  considerable  degree  of  theology,  and  as  much 
heautiful  imagery  and  stirring  eloquence  as  we  often  find  within  the 
same  limits.  Those  who  have  the  other  works  from  the  same  pen. 
will  purchase  this  almost  of  course  :  and  they  need  have  no  fear  that 
H  will  disappoint  any  expectation  which  its  predecessors  may  hav« 
nwakened." — Albany  Religious  Spectator. 

Also  just  published — 

*THE  CHURCH  VISIBLE  IN  ALL  AGES." 

A  work,  making  attraction  to  the  youthful  as  well  as  tli* 
more  mature  mind,  a  deeply  interesting  and  important  subject 


All  the  foregoing  are  printed  on  clear,  xoliiie  paper t  and 
bound  to  match,  making  an  attractive  and  beautiful  set  oj 
books.  They  are  sold  in  sets  or  separately,  varying  from 
25  to  50  cents  per  volume.  When  purchased  for  Sabbatk 
SchooUi  a  liberal  deduction  is  made  from  the  above  price*. 

7 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  hy  M^  W.  Dodd^ 

PURITAN    HEROES; 

Or,  Skktches  of  their  Character  and  Times.  By  John 
Stocghton-.  With  an  Introductory  Letter  by  Joel 
Hawes,  D.D. 

"This  is  a  well-printed  dimdeciino  volume,  wherein  is  given  a  series 
of  admifHble  sketches  of  those  nobie  niiiided  men  whose  renunciations 
of  existing  glaring  evils  subjected  them  to  sn  great  a  degree  <if  suflering 
and  calumniation.  The  present  viiliune  is  not  a  continiious  nor  a  prosy 
history.  It  is  iiiore;  for  whiie  the  best  and  standard  authorities,  old 
MSS..  and  curious-  tracts,  have  been  consulted  in  its  compilation,  it 
abounds  with  vivid  and  life  like  pictures  of  the  principal  characters 
and  events  in  the  time  of  the  Puritans  and  JMonconformists.  iSo  portion 
of  English  BIstory  can  be  more  interesting  than  this,  and  none  better 
deserves  deep  and  earnest  study." — JV.  Y.  Tribune. 

"The  perusal  of  this  volume  has  awakened  in  our  heart  more  than 
eur  former  love  for  the  PuriUins  of  the  olden  times,  and  given  us  a 
burning  desire  that  everj*  American  citizen  may  possess,  individually, 
as  intense  a.  regard  for  the  memory  of  those  men  whose  principles,  re- 
fined like  gold  in  the  fires  of  intolerance  and  persecution,  laid  the 
foundation  on  which  the  glorious  superstructure  of  our  Temple  of 
Liberty  has  been  erected.  The  j^en  of  Stoughton  has  given  to  these 
records  of  Puritan  days  all  the  vividness,  power,  and  glory  of  life,  and 
Mr.  Dodd  has  published  them  in  a  style  of  beauty  and  elegance  worthy 
of  much  commendation."— ^/ia7tj/  Upectatar. 

"The  author  has  evidently  written  so  as  to  adapt  his  style  to  the 
young,  and  thereby  secure  their  attention  to  the  toils  and  struggles  ot 
the  early  advocates  of  Truth,  then  imperfectly  known,  against  ecclesi- 
astical domination  and  spiritual  tyranny.  This  we  have  no  doubt  he- 
will  have  accomplished.  The  book  is  one  of  the  must  readable  that 
has  been  issued  from  the  reiigious  press  for  years.  We  mean  that  it 
possesses  a  captivation,  both  from  the  style  and  the  subject,  which  Ls 
rarely  fownA:'— Methodist  Protestant. 

"This  book  commemorates,  in  a  thrilling  and  powerful  manner,  some 
of  the  greatest  spirits  of  perhaps  the  most  interesting  period  of  British 
history.  It  shows  us  the  struggles  and  heaviness  of  the  free  spirit  as  it 
was  coming  forth  to  rij>en  upou  the  earth.  It  is  history,  the  most  inter- 
esting—but not  continuous  history.  It  is  highly  and  most  justly  recom- 
mended by  Dr.  \\a.\\e%J'''—Mbany  Express. 

"This  work  relates  to  a  j^riod  when  great  truths  were  struggling  into 
birth — when  soul-liberty  was  asserted  and  maintained  at  the  expen.se 
of  fortune,  reputation,  friends,  everything: — a  liberty  which  has  long 
blessed  our  happy  land;  and  which  is  extending  a  like  boon  to  other 
nations.'*— 7%e  Trojav, 

"This  book  is  of  decided  interest.  The  times  to  which  it  relates: 
the  characters  it  describes  j  the  stirring  events  which  it  sketches  ;  and 
the  nubie  sentiments  which  it  illustrates,  lend  to  it  a  peculiar  charm." 
—Biblical  Repository. 

"The  volume  before  us  gives  an  admirable  insight  into  the  character 
and  times  of  the  Puritans.  It  is  not  a  dry  history,  like  Neal's:  it  is  a 
spirit-stirring  review  of  the  men  and  the  age,  in  which  every  character 
and  every  scene  lives  before  us.  Here  we  may  worship  wiih  'the 
Islington  Congregation'  in  the  woods:  here  we  may  follow  Barrov  •  and 
Greenwood,  and  Perry,  to  the  gallows:  here  we  may  witness  th  em- 
barkation of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers:  here  we  may  sit  by  the  death-be  of 
Owen,  and  Baxter,  and  Howe;  and  walk  among  the  graves  of  mei  of 
whom  the  world  is  not  wosthv."— TA^c  Indepmdent. 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  by  M.  W.  Dodd. 


THE  ATTRACTION  OF  THE  CROSS. 

The  Attraction  of  the  Cross,  designed  to  illustrate  the 
leading  Truths,  Obligations  and  Hopes  of  Christianity 
By  Gardiner  Spring,  D.D.     12mo.     Fourth  edition. 

'  We  are  not  surprised  to  hear  that  Mr.  Dodd,  the  publisher,  has  al- 
ready issued  the  third  edition  of  the  Attraction  of  the  Cross,  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Sprin??.  It  is  the  ablest  and  most  finished  production  of  its  author, 
and  will  undoubtedly  take  its  place  in  that  most  enviable  position  in  the 
family,  as  a  volume  of  standard  reading,  to  be  the  comfort  of  the  aged 
and  the  guide  of  the  young.  We  commend  it  as  one  of  the  most  valua- 
ble issues  of  the  press." — N.  Y.  Observer. 

"  This  is  no  ordinary,  every-day  volume  of  sermons,  but  the  rich, 
ripe  harvest  of  a  cultivated  mind — the  result  of  long  and  systematic 
devotion  to  the  proper  -work  of  the  Christian  ministry.  We  regard  Dr. 
Spring  as  one  of  the  most  accomplished  preachers  of  the  country.  We 
never  heard  him  preach  a  weak  discourse  ;  and  whenever  he  appears 
from  the  press,  it  is  with  words  of  wisdom  and  power.  A  careful  perusal 
of  this  admirable  bool-:  has  afforded  us  great  pleasure.  We  do  not  won- 
der to  find  it  so  soon  in  a  third  edition.  It  will  have  a  lasting  reputa- 
tion."— Baptist  Memorial. 

"  This  volume,  which  we  announced  two  weeks  ago,  and  which  we  then 
predicted  would  prove  to  be  the  most  excellent  and  valuable  work  yet 

written  by  Dr.  Spring,  has  more  than  equalled  our  expectations 

We  trust  that  every  family  in  our  land  v.'ill  read  this  precious  work, 
which  illustrates  so  beautifully  and  attractively  the  leading  truths,  ob- 
ligations and  hopes  ef  Christianity,  as  reflected  from  the  Cross  of 
Christ." — Albany  Spectator. 

"  We  mistake  if  this  neatly-printed  volume  does  not  prove  one  of  the 
most  attractive  religious  works  of  the  day.  It  presents  the  practical 
truths  of  religion,  which  all  ought  to  know,  free  from  the  spirit  of  sect- 
arianism or  controversy.  The  book  is  prepared  for  permanent  use,  and 
bids  as  fair,  perhaps,  as  any  book  of  the  kind  in  our  times,  to  live  and 
speak  long  after  the  author  shall  have  gone  to  test  the  realities  he  ha« 
80  eloquently  described." — Journal  of  Commerce. 

"  Dr.  Spring's  new  work,  which  we  had  occasion  recently  to  announce, 
is  very  highly  commended  elsewhere.  A  New-York  letter  in  the  Boston 
Traveller  thus  introduces  it  to  notice : — '  A  new  work  of  Dr.  Spring, 
"  The  Attraction  of  the  Cross,"  has  been  published  by  M.  W.  Dodd,  of 
this  city,  r  .  .  "  The  Attraction  of  the  Cross"  is  destined  to  live  among 
the  very  best  productions  of  the  church  with  which  its  respected  author 
is  connected.  The  style  is  remarkably  pure,  the  arrangements  of  the 
topics  lucid  and  methodical,  and  the  arguments  addressed  with  great 
force  to  the  reason  and  conscience.  It  will  stand  by  the  side  of  ''  Dod- 
dridge's Rise  and  Progress,"  " Wilberforce's  View,"  or  the  "Way  of 
Life,"  in  the  libraries  of  future  generations.'  " — Neuark  Daily  Adv. 

"  None  will  wonder  at  the  rare  success  which  this  volume  has  won, 
who  live  read  it.  P'..r  comprehensiveness  of  views,  beauty  of  style  and 
excellence  and  fervor  of  devotional  feeling,  few  works  bar  lately  ap- 
peared that  surpa.'.s  it." — New-York  Evangelist. 

*•  The  grand  relations  of  the  Cross,  its  holy  influences.  Its  comforts  and 
Its  triumphs,  are  here  exhibited  in  a  manner  cheering  to  the  heart  of 
the  Christian.  And  the  perusal  of  this  book  will,  we  venture  to  say. 
greatly  assist  and  comfort  :he  children  of  God. .  . ." — Presbyterian. 

d 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  hy  M.  W.  Dodd. 


AN  EARNEST  MINISTRY, 

The  Want  of  the  Times.  By  John  Angell  James.  Witb 
AN  Introduction  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Condit,  D.D.,  of  New- 
ark, N.  J. 

"There  is  a  power  in  the  very  title  of  this  book.  It  strikes  home  to 
the  convictions  of  every  mind  that  is  wakeful  to  the  condition  and  want* 
of  the  church.  '  An  Earnest  Ministry.'  The  ear  tingles  with  the  sound , 
it  stirs  up  thought ;  it  lingers  in  the  memory ;  it  turns  into  prayer. 

"  '  Has  the  evangelical  pulpit  lost,  and  is  it  likely  to  lose  any  of  itf 
power  V  is  the  question  with  which  the  veteran  preacher  and  authol 
commences  his  discussion.  In  the  progress  of  his  own  earnest  mind 
through  the  several  stages  of  this  subject,  he  begins  with  the  ministry 
of  the  Apostles,  linding  his  theme  in  it ;  examines  the  nature  of  ear- 
nestness, and  shows  its  appropriateness  in  him  who  handles  the  word 
of  life,  in  respect  to  its  matter,  manner,  and  practice;  illustrates  his 
points  by  numerous  quotations  and  biographical  notices ;  and  from  the 
whole,  gathers  motives  of  great  power  to  bear  on  the  conscience  of  the 
professional  reader. 

"  We  wish  that  we  could  lay  a  copy  on  the  table  of  every  pastor,  and 
put  it  into  the  portmanteau  of  every  missionary  in  the  land  ;  we  should 
feel  quite  sure  that  the  Sabbath  following,  at  least,  would  bear  witness 
to  its  effect ;  and  we  should  hope  for  still  more  enduring  results.  And 
we  could  scarcely  imagine  a  more  useful  appropriation  of  money,  than 
would  be  made  by  supplying  the  young  men  of  our  own  Theological 
Seminaries,  with  each  a  copy  of  this  exhibition  of  an  'earnest  minis- 
try.' "— JV.  Y.  Observer. 

"  We  read  this  work  with  the  greatest  interest.  A  more  impressive, 
truth  telling,  pungent  appeal  to  the  ministry,  we  have  never  met  with. 
This  noble,  stirring  effort  to  infuse  new  life  and  energy  into  the  minis- 
try cannot  be  too  highly  praised.  Without  attempting  an  analysis  of 
its  contents,  we  beg  to  assure  oiu  brethren,  that  of  all  useful  and  able 
productions  of  this  authfflr,  this  is  by  far  the  most  useful  and  able. 
There  are  hints,  and  appeals,  and  principles  in  it,  of  incalculable  im- 
portance, and  of  most  awakening  interest." — JV.  Y.  Evangelist. 

"  Every  work  of  his  we  have  read  meets  an  exigency— in  other 
words,  is  opportune  to  the  state  of  the  Church,  and  shows  profound 
thought,  thorough  investigation,  and  withal,  is  given  in  a  chaste  and 
vigorous  style.  This  last  volume  in  no  sense  falls  behind — there  is  a 
clearness,  a  comprehension,  and  a  power  in  it,  which  makes  it  com- 
pare with  anything  he  has  written ;  and  throughout  it  is  an  illustration 
of  the  very  earnestness  he  commends.  Dr.  Condit  of  Newark,  has 
written  a  very  judicious  introduction  to  the  volume.  We  feel  that 
Mr.  James  may  well  be  taken  by  young  men  in  Theological  training, 
and  ministers  generally,  as  their  oracle  on  the  importance  of  earnest- 
ness in  the  ministry." — Christian  Intelligencer. 

"  His  specimens  and  illustrations,  drawn  from  the  most  eminent  divines 
of  ancient  and  modern  days,  and  of  various  countries,  are  extremely  apt 
and  interesting.  By  the  method  he  has  pursued,  Mr.  J.  has  given  us  a 
kind  of  biographical  library  of  the  ministry,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  im- 
press their  excellencies  upon  the  memory,  and  to  inspire  a  wish  to  imi- 
tate them.  The  work  is  richly  worthy  of  the  perusal  of  the  class  fo^ 
whom  it  is  specially  designed." — Christian  Review. 

"  Not  to  make  a  book,  but  to  do  good,  seems  to  have  been  the  whol* 
object  in  view.  All  our  ministers,  especially  the  younger,  should  give 
this  book  a  reading,  and  we  believe  its  circulation  generally  among  om 
people  would  be  productive  of  great  benefit  to  the  whole  Church."' 
Methodist  PvJpit.  10 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  hy  M.  W.  Dodd, 

MACKNIGHT'S     EPISTLES, 

A  NEW  LITERAL  TRANSLATION 
FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  GREEK. 

or  ALL  THE 

APOSTOLICAL    EPISTLES. 

WITH    A 

COMMENTARY  AND  NOTES, 

Philological,  Critical,  Explanatory,  and  Practical.. 

TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED 

A  HISTOEY  OF  THE  LIFE  OF  THE  APOSTLE  PADl, 

BY  JAMES  MACKNIGHT,   D.D., 

AUTHOR   OF   A   HA.RMONY    OF   THE    GOSPELS,    ETC. 

4  New  Edition,  to  which  is  prefixed  an  Account  of  the  Lift 
of  the  Author, 


KNAPP'S    THEOLOGY, 

LECTURES 

ON 

CHRISTIAN    THEOLOGY. 

BY 
GEORGE  CHRISTIAN   KNAPP,  D.D., 

PROrKSSOR    OF   THEOLOGY    IN   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   HALLE. 

TRANSLATED   BY    LEONARD    WOODS,    JUN.,    D.D.,    PRESIDENT   Of 
BOWDOIN    COLLEGE,    BRUNSWICK,    MAINE. 

Third  American  edition,  reprinted  from  the  last  London 
edition, 

U 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  hy  M.  W.  Dodd. 

LECTURES  ON  THEOLOGY. 

By  the  late  Rev,  John  Dick,  D.D.    2  vols.  8vo. 

"The  Theological  Lectures  of  Dr.  Dick  have  been  long  enough  be- 
fore the  public  to  hare  acquired  a  high  reputation.  They  are  able,  ju- 
dicious, and  concise,  and  possess  such  advantages  of  arrangement  ant} 
method,  as  to  render  the  work  extreiisely  convenient  for  a  class  book, 
and  for  general  reference.  A  Professor  in  the  United  Session  Church 
in  Scotland,  the  general  tone  of  the  theology  of  his  work  will  not  neerf 
to  be  defined.  It  is  consistently  and  decidedly  Calvinistic.  without; 
being  excessively  strained.  The  calm  and  courteous  spirit  of  all  the 
Doctor's  diseui<sions — the  fairness  and  urbanity  shown  towards  oppo- 
nents, and  the  judicious  qualifications  with  which  what  he  regards  the 
truths  of  his  system  are  asserted,  give  the  work  a  pleasing,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  a  rare  characteristic.  The  elegant  style,  too,  in  which  the 
dry  themes  of  abstract  theology  are  presented,  always  agreeable  and 
chaste,  and  often  rising  to  true  eloquence,  ought  not  to  be  forgotten 
among  the  excellencies  of  the  book.  We  can  say  of  this  work,  that  for 
a  systematic,  concise,  and  well-composed  manual  on  theology,  there  is 
hardly  a  superior  to  be  had  ;  and,  without  excluding  othfir  works  of  the 
kind,  or  the  more  elaborate  treatises  on  particular  doctrines,  it  is  one 
that  should  find  a  place  in  every  well-appointed  clerical  library." — 
Biblical  Rep&sitory, 

BAPTISM. 

By  Absalom  Peters,  D.  D. 

"A  very  ingenious,  learned,  and  intelligible  argument  to  prove  that 
sprinkling  is  the  only  mode  of  Baptism  made  known  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  the  Scripture  warrant  for  Infant  Baptism.  We  have  examined  it 
with  real  interest  and  satisfnction,  and  we  commend  it  to  the  attention 
of  all  who  would  study  the  subject,  whatever  may  be  their  present 
views." — JVcra  York  Observer. 

"The  Berkshire  Association,  in  requesting  the  publication  of  these 
lectures,  entitle  them  ' ./?  shoi-t  method  of  settling  the  question.'  So  it 
will  strike  the  reader,  who  peruses  with  candor  the  clear  and  cogent 
ai^iimentation  by  which  point  Mfter  point  is  established.  In  many  re- 
spects, this  argument  is  new  ;  and  it  is  conducted  with  such  clear  rea- 
soning, and  in  language  and  statement  so  explicit,  as  to  adapt  it  well 
for  general  circulation  among  the  churches."— JV''.  F.  Evangelist. 

'•That  works  like  that  heading  this  article  are  well  adapted  to  end 
the  controversy  on  this  oft-inouted  suiyeet.  by  the  catholicistn  of  their 
spirit,  the  clearness  of  their  arguing,  and  the  simplieity  of  their  ^tyle, 
will  hardly  be  questioned.  In  each  of  these  respects,  to  say  nothing 
of  others,  it  is  admirable.  Tlie  Baptist  himself  innst  confess  to  the 
uniform  candor  of  tlie  author,  and  acknowledge  the  ali-ptrvading  auavi- 
ter  in  modo.  even  if  he  deny  the  fartiterin  re.  in  (he  conduct  of  the  ar- 
gument. That  'sprinkling  is  the  only  mode  of  baptism  made  known  by 
the  Scriptures.'  is  a  startling  proposition  in  the  ears  of  many,  and  re- 
quires  accurate  definition  and  severe  logical  argument,  as  well  as  clear 
Scriptural  testimony  t»  sustain  it.  And  it  is  believed  that  such  difini- 
tlon.  argument  and  testisnony.  are  here  combined,  as  t<innot  ba  ovet' 
thrown."— A'cir  F.r^jflavd  Pwriian^ 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  Ixj  M.  W.  Dodd. 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  PURCHASE  AXD  SETTLEMENT 

OF  WESTERN  NEW   YORK, 
And  of  thk  Rise,  Progress,  and  PfiESExx  State  of  the 

Presbyterian  Church  in  that  Section,   By  Rev,  James 

HOTCHKIN.     Pp.  GOO.      8vo. 

"  We  announced  this  work  as  forthcoming,  and  are  pleased 
to  see  it, — a  large  and  handsome  octavo,  with  the  most  full, 
minute,  and  valuable  information  respecting  Western  New 
York,  in  its  various  ecclesiastical  and  historical  departments. 
It  is  said  bv  the  X.  Y.  Evangelist  that  •  jou  could  almost  as 
soon  discredit  the  internal  evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 
as  that  this  book  tells  what  is  true;'  but  this  is  an  endorse- 
ment which  we  should  be  slow  to  put  upon  any  uninspired 
history.  But  it  is  worthy  of  a  wide  diffusion,  and  we  trust 
that  it  will  be  the  means  of  extending  the  knowledge  of  the 
wonderful  progress  of  that  great  region  which  it  describes, 
that  it  will  dispel  prejudices,  and  promote  the  cause  of  truth 
and  righteousness." — xV.  Y.  Observer. 

"  The  work  commences  at  the  Indian  title  and  occupation 
— merges  into  the  actual  settlement  by  the  Whites — gives  the 
progress  of  Population,  the  origin  of  the  first  settlers,  and 
their  motives  for  emigration — their  character — the  firsl  forma- 
tion of  religious  bodies,  and  a  complete,  very  detailed,  and 
valuable  account  of  the  various  Presbyteries  and  Synods, 
The  '  History  of  Revivals,'  to  which  a  large  portion  of  the 
work  is  devoted,  will  be  of  peculiar  interest  to  many,  and  the 
detail  of  the  primary  Missionary  operations  is  exceedingly  in- 
teresting."— N<iio  York  Tribune. 

"  This  is  an  octavo  of  600  pages.  It  is  a  valuable  and 
much-needed  book.  The  author  was  evidently  fitted  for  the 
task  which  he  has  executed  so  creditably.  He  has  lived  and 
toiled  for  nearly  fifty  years  in  the  field  which  he  describes. 
His  judgment  is  sound,  his  mind  unbiassed,  and  his  spirit 
kind.  It  is  an  impartial  and  accurate  history,  we  think,  and 
may  be  relied  on  in  its  statement  of  facts.  Its  style  is  sinaple 
and  unpretending,  but  it  wears  such  an  air  of  honest  truth, 
and  so  abounds  with  valuv'^.ble  matter,  secular  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal, as  to  make  it  not  only  valuable,  but  really  instructive." — • 
Biblical  Reposilory. 

"  Th.is  is  a  full  and  minute  history  of  Western  rsew  York, 
from  its  purchase  and  settlement  to  the  present  time  ;  that  his- 
tory interwoven  with  the  still  rrore  important  history  of  the 
rise,  progress,  and  present  state  of  ths  Presbyterian  Church 
in  that  section, — a  history  of  a  peculiarly  exciting,  remarka- 
ble, and  interesting  charact';r."--  AV'.-?/  Spectator. 

13 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  by  M.  W.  Dodd, 

CRUDEN'3  COMPLETE  CONCORDANCE. 

A  COMPLETE  CONCORDANCE 

TO    THE 

HOLY  SCRIPTURES 

oy  THE 

OLD    AND    NEW    TESTAMENT; 

OR,    A 

DICTIONARY  AND  ALPHABETICAL  INDEX  TO  THE  BIBLE: 

Very  useful  to  all  Christians  who  seriously  read  and  study  the 

inspired  writings. 

IN  TWO   PARTS: 

CONTAINING, 

I.  The  Appellative  or  Common  Words  in  so  full  and  large  a  manner, 
that  any  verse  may  be  readily  found  by  looking  for  any  material  wora 
in  it.  In  this  part  the  various  significations  of  the  principal  words  are 
given ;  by  which  the  true,jneaning  of  many  passages  of  Scripture  is 
shown ;  an  account  of  several  Jewish  Customs  and  Ceremonies  la  also 
added,  which  may  serve  to  illustrate  many  parts  of  Scripture. 

H.  The  Proper  Names  in  the  Scriptures.  To  this  part  is  prefixed  a 
Table,  containing  the  signification  of  the  words  in  the  original  lan- 
guages from  which  they  are  derived. 

TO   WHICH   is   ADDED 

A  CONCORDANCE  TO  THE  BOOKS  CALLED 
APOCRYPHA. 

The  whole  digested  in  an  easy  and  regular  method :  which,  together 
with  the  various  significations  and  other  improvements  now  added,  ren- 
ders it  more  useful  than  any  book  of  the  kind  hitherto  published. 

BY   ALEXANDER  CRUDEN,  MA. 

From  the  Tenth  London  Edition^  carefully  revised  and  corrected  by  the 

Holy  Script2ires. 

TO    WHICH    IS    ADDED 

AN  ORIGINAL  LIFE  OF   THE   AUTHOR. 

"Ever  since  the  first  publication  of  Cruden's  Concordance,  in  1736,  it 
has  maintained  the  acknowledged  reputation  of  being  the  very  best 
work  of  the  kind  in  the  English  language.    Indeed,  no  ether  has  ever 
14 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  hy  M.  W.  Dodd. 


deserved  to  be  even  compared  to  it.    It  maintains  its  superiority  still; 
and  probably  will  ever  hold  that  pre-eminence. 

"  We  speak  of  the  complete  edition,  which  is  here  presented  to  the 
public.  A  work  in  the  market  called  Cruden's  Concordance  being  only 
a  compilation  from  the  complete  work,  and  wanting  many  of  its  most 
valuable  features.  To  abridge  this  work  of  Cruden.  as  it  came  from  his 
finishing  hand,  would  be  to  make  it  nearly  valueless  to  ninety-nine  of 
every  hundred  who  need  a  concordance.  And  of  all  aids  to  an  acciurate 
understanding  of  the  Bible,  we  believe  Cruden's  complete  Concordance 
to  be  the  best." 

•'  Dear  Sir  :— I  have  carefully  compared  your  edition  of  Cruden's 
Concordance  with  a  fine  English  edition,  and  find  it  true  to  the  original. 
Knowing,  from  many  years'  use,  the  value  of  Cruden,  I  cannot  but  be 
glad  that  you  have  thus  presented  a  cheap  edition  of  his  invaluable 
work  to  the  American  public.  I  find  in  your  copy  an  unimpaired,  com- 
plete Cruden.  This  is  not  the  case  with  another  American  edition, 
published  last  year.  In  that,  great  liberties  are  taken  with  the  original 
work — such  as  abridgments,  omissions,  &c.,  greatly  reducing  the 
amount  of  its  contents,  and  in  the  same  proportion  diminishing  its 
value.  A  student  of  the  Bible  needs  a  concordance  in  which  he  can 
find  every  passage  he  wants.     Your  edition  is  just  such  an  one." 

"  We  know,  from  long  use,  this  full  and  admirable  reprint  of  the 
original  Cruden's  Concordance  ;  and  we  think  that  the  whole  value  of  ^ 
the  work  depends  upon  its  being  complete  and  entire ;  and  that  its 
great  value  would  be  impaired  seriously  by  the  omission  of  a  single 
word  or  reference." 

"The  high  price  at  which  this  gigantic  work  has  been  necessarily 
sold  hitherto,  has  prevented  thousands  from  purchasing  it.  A  complete 
edition,  with  the  very  latest  corrections,  with  the  notes  of  the  author 
and  every  line  of  the  London  edition  faithfully  given,  is  now  published, 
as  above,  for  only  two  dollars.  It  is  the  best  commentary  on  the 
Bible  that  was  ever  made  :  it  is  worth  more  to  the  diligent  and  devout 
student  than  the  whole  of  Henry  or  Scott,  or  any  other  critic,  and  we 
would  part  with  all  our  commentaries  rather  than  with  Cruden's  Con- 
cordance. It  ought  to  be  in  every  intelligent  family,  and  we  presume 
that  the  low  price  at  v/hich  it  is  now  sold  will  be  the  means  of  putting 
it  into  the  hands  of  many  who  would  not  otherwise  have  obtained  it." 

15 


Books  Published  a  ad  for  Sale  by  M.  W,  Dodd, 


^NkY   OF   SALVATION. 

By  David  Russell,  D.D. 

"  The  author  is  a  distinguished  minister  of  the  Dissenting  Congrega- 
tional body  in  Scotland,  having  an  important  pastoral  charge  in  Dun- 
dee. His  views  are  clear,  comprehensive,  and  practical.  This  volume 
addresses  a  most  interesting  class  of  the  human  family — those  who  are 
awakened  and  inquiring  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  appears  to  be  a 
safe  and  profitable  directory." — Religious  Recorder, 

THE  GREAT   COMMANDMENT. 

By  the  Author  of  "The  Listener,"  "Christ  our 
Example,"  &c. 
"This  book  is  so  plain  and  simple  as  to  be  within  the  legitimate  range 
of  any  comprehension,  and  yet  so  strongly  marked  by  vigorous  concep- 
tions and  enlarged  views  oC  truth,  that  the  student  of  theology,  or  the 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  may  read  it  v/ith  abundant  profit.  It  is  evi- 
dently the  production  of  a  n)ind  not  accustomed  to  repose  on  the  sur- 
face of  things,  and  is  dictated  by  a  spirit  that  has  been  accustomed  to 
intimate  communion  with  the  fountain  of  light  and  purity." — Albany 
Statesman. 

HAVE   ME    EXCUSED! 

By  Ezra  D.  Kinney, 

Pastor  of  Ccng.  Church  in  Darten,  Conn. 

"The  pious  author  of  this  neat  volume  has  here  given  a  practical 
exposition  of  the  parable  of  the  Great  Supper,  in  which  he  has  urged 
the  wonderful  fulness  of  the  Gospel  otfer  of  salvation,  and  scattered  the 
excuses  which  sinners  make  for  not  accepting  the  invitation." — JV*.  Y. 
Observer. 

WINSLOW    ON   THE    ATONEMENT. 

Experimental  and  Practical  Views  of  the  Atonement. 

By  Octavius  Winslow.     l8mo. 

"This  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  works  which  the  author  designs  to 
publish,  of 'Experimental  and  Practical  Views  of  Divine  Truth;'  and 
If  all  those  forthcoming  prove  as  valuable  as  this,  they  must  greatly 
bless  the  Christian  Church.  The  work  before  us  is  a  mirror,  in~which 
Christ,  in  his  atoning  sacrifice,  is  reflected  in  the  face  of  the  Church,  and 
in  which  she  beholds  her  entire  beauty,  righteousness,  and  eternal  life, 
as  hid  with  Christ  in  God.'' — Albany  Spectator. 

THE   PILGRIM'S   NOTE   BOOKj 

OR,    CHOICE    SAYINGS    ILLUSTRATIVE    OF    CHRISTIAN 
CHARACTER   AND  DUTY. 

Selected  by  Mrs.  F.  L.  Smith.     32mo. 
"It  is  a  string  of  pearls,  to  be  sought  and  kept  and  admired  ;  just  the 
book  to  lie  on  everybody's  table,  to  be  caught  up  and  read  at  a  leUur« 
moraent  for  refreshment  and  reflection."— JV"*.  Y.  Observer. 
16 


Boolts  Fublished  and  for  Sale  by  M.    W.  Dodo. 

THE  BOOK  THAT  WILL  SUIT  YOU; 

Or  a  Word  for  Every  One.     By  Rev.  James  Smith,  Author  ol 

"  Believer's  Daily  Remembrancer,"  &c. 

"An  elegant  Kttle  hand  book  of  some  300  paces  16nio.,  and  by  an  En 
glish  author  Its  contents  are  a  rare  selection  of  topics,  treated  briefly 
D  suit  the  circumstances  of  those  who  have  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes 
.o  sj)end  in  reading,  which  it  would  be  wicked  to  throw  away,  and  yet 
Jiscouraging  to  commence  a  heavier  volume.  '  The  Successful  Mo- 
Mier,'  'The  Child's  Guide,'  'The  Husband's  example,'  'The  Wife's 
Rule,' — these  are  some  of  the  topics  taken  promiscuously  fn  m  the 
book  ;  and  they  show  the  author's  mind  to  be  travelling  in  the  right  di 
rection,  viz. :  towards  the  theory^  of  life's  daily  practice.  We  hope 
that  the  time  is  near  when  Christian  parlors  will  be  emptied  of  'The 
Book  of  Fashion,'  '  Somebody's  Lady's  Book,'  etc.,  etc.,  made  up  of 
love  stories  mawkishly  told,  and  other  drivelling  nonsense  ;  and  their 
places  supplied  with  works  like  the  '  Book  that  will  Suit  you' — no  less 
pleasing,  and  far  more  useful." 

GRACE  ABOUNDING  TO  THE  CHIEF  OF  SINNERS, 

In  a  faithful  account  of  the  Life  and  death  of  John  Banyan, 
pp.  176. 

"  We  are  pleased  to  see  a  very  handsome  edition  of  this  admirable 
treatise.  It  is  just  published,  and  will  be  eagerly  sought  after  by  all 
who  admire  the  spirit  and  genius  of  this  remarkable  man  whose  '  Pil- 
grims Progress'  stands  nearly  if  not  quite  at  the  head  of  religious  lite- 
rature." 

KIND  WORDS  FOR  THE  KITCHEN; 

Or  Illustrations  of  Humble  Life.     By  Mrs.  Copley. 

"This  admirable  little  volume  is  the  production  of  Mrs.  Esther 
Copley,  (late  Mrs.  Hewlett.)  whose  popularity  as  an  authoress  has  long 
been  established  upon  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  welfare  of  that 
interesting  and  important  part  of  society  who  discharge  the  domestic 
duties  of  life  has  long  engaged  the  attention  of  this  distinguished  and 
accomplished  lady. 

"  We  have  rea'd  the  '  Kind  Words  for  the  Kitchen,'  with  a  firm  coa- 
viction  that  it  is  the  best  work  we  have  ever  seen  in  so  small  a  com 

[)ass  for  its  designed  purpose  ;  it  suggests  all  that  a  sense  of  duty  would 
cad  the  head  of  a  well  regulated  household  to  advise,  and  having 
loaned  the  book  to  ladies  distinguished  for  their  judgment  and  skill  as 
heads  of  well-governed  families,  they  have  urged  its  publication  with 
8  few  omissions  of  matter  deemed  inappropriate  to  our  country. 

"  We  believe  almost  every  Christian  lady  will  be  glad  to  place  such  a 
m.inual  of  sound  instruction  in  the  h-inds  of  her  domestics,  and  that 
wbich  is  kindly  bestowed  will  generally  be  frratefully  received.  With 
au  assurance  that  the  general  diffusion  of  this  book  would  accomplish 
a  most  valuable  service  in  binding  together  more  closely  the  interests 
of  the  employer  and  the  employed,  and  sofiening  down  the  asperities 
which  so  frequently  grow  out  of  the  ill  performed  duties  of  the  house- 
hold sphere,  we  should  rejoice  to  know  that  this  little  volume  wai 
aUiced  by  the  side  of  the  Bible  Id  every  kitchen  of  our  country.* 

17 


Bnr>l-<t  PuhUshea  and  for  Sale  by  AL    \\.    Dodd. 

SERMONS,  NOT  BEFORE  PUBLISHED,  ON  VARIOUS 
PRACTICAL  SUBJECTS. 

By  the  late  Edward  Dorr  Griffin,  D.  D. 

'*  Dr.  Griffin  may  be  regarded  as  having  been  a  prince  among  the 
princes  of  the  American  pulint.  He  left  a  large  number  of  senaons 
carefully  revised  and  ready  for  publication,  part  of  which  were  pub- 
lished shortly  after  his  death,  but  the  greater  portion  of  which  consti- 
tute the  present  volume.  They  are  ioubtless  among  the  ablest  dis- 
courses of  the  present  day,  and  are  al.ke  fitted  to  disturb  the  delusions 
ef  guilt,  to  quicken  and  strengthen,  and  comfort  the  Christian,  and  to 
Berve  as  a  model  to  the  theological  student,  who  would  construct  his 
discourses,  in  a  way  to  render  them  at  once  the  most  impressive,  and 
the  most  edifying." 

A  MEMOIR  OF  THE  REV.  LEGH  RICHMOND,  A.M. 

Rector  of  Turvey,  Bedfordshire.  By  Rev.  T.  S.  Grimshaw, 
A.  M..  Rector  of  Burton-Latimer,  die.  Seventh  American 
from  the  last  London  Edition,  with  a  handsome  Portrait  or. 
Steel. 

"  We  have  here  a  beautiful  reprint  of  one  of  the  best  books  of  it 
class,  to  be  found  in  our  l?inguage.  Such  beauty  and  symmetry'  of  cha 
racter,  such  manly  intelligence  and  child-like  simplicity,  such  officia* 
dignity  and  condescending  meekness,  such  warmth  of  zeal  united  wit> 
a  perception  of  fitness  which  always  discerns  the  right  thing  to  b« 
done,  and  an  almost  faultless  prudence  in  doing  it, — are  seldom  found 
combined  in  the  same  person.  It  is  a  book  for  a  minister,  and  a  book 
for  parishioners ;  a  book  for  the  lovers  of  nature,  and  a  book  for  thr 
friends  of  God  and  of  his  species.  Never  perhaps  were  the  spirits  ant 
duties  of  a  Christian  Pastor  more  happily  e.vemplified.  Never  dir 
warmer  or  purer  domestic  aflfections  throb  in  a  human  bosom,  or  exer 
cise  themselves  more  unceasingly  and  successfully  for  the  comfort,  th# 

£  resent  well-being  and  final  sa'vation  of  sons  and  daughters.  From  m 
eart  probably,  did  ever  good  will  flow  out  to  men,  in  a  fuller,  warmei 
current.  In  a  word,  be  was  the  author  of  the  '  Dairyman's  Daughter, 
and  the  '  Young  Cottager.' 

"  The  engraved  likeness  of  Mr.  Richmond  alone  is  worth  the  cost  of 
the  work  ;  as  illustrative  of  the  uncommon  benignity  that  adorned  and 
endeared  the  man  to  his  friends  and  the  world." 

UNCLE  barnaby; 

Or  Recollections  of  his  Character  and  Opinions,  pp.  316. 

"  The  religion  of  this  book  is  good— the  morality  excellent,  and  the 
mode  of  exhibiting  their  important  lessons  can  hardly  be  surpassed  in 
anything  calculated  to  make  them  attractive  to  the  young,  or  successful 
in  correcting  anything  bad  in  their  habits  or  morals.  There  are  some 
twenty  chapters  on  as  many  common  sayings  and  maxims,  occurrences 
and  incidents — in  this  respect  bearing  a  resemblance  to  '  the  Prompter, 
a  somewhat  oracular  book  forty  or  fifty  years  ago.  It  is  an  excellent 
book  to  keep  in  a  family,  and  may  b*.^  alike  beneficial  to  parents  an«l 
children." 

18 


Books  Ptiblished  and  foi'  Sale  hy  M.  W.  Dodd. 

THE    PEARL    OF    DAYS. 

By  a  Laborer's  Daughter, 

"This  is  a  most  remarkable  work,  which  has  performed  a  great  mis- 
sion of  mercy  in  England,  and  has  now  reached  this  country  for  the 
same  blessed  end.  It  is  a  prize  essay  on  the  advantages  of  the  Sabbath 
to  the  working  classes,  written  by  a  Laborer's  Daughter,  and  is  most 
appropriately  commended  by  an  American  clergyman  in  the  preface,  to 
parents,  to  the  friends  of  social  progress,  and  to  the  working  classes 
themselves.  Besides  the  Essay  itself,  there  are  added  the  attractions  of 
a  sketch  of  the  Author's  life  by  herself,  and  several  neat  illustrations." 

HISTORY   OF   THE 

AMERICAN  BOARD  OF  COMMISSIONERS  FOR 
FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

Compiled  chiefly  from  the  Published  and  Unpublished  Docu- 
ments of  the  Board.  By  Joseph  Tracy.  Second  edition, 
carefully  revised  and  enlarged.     1  vol.  8vo. 

"  Mr.  Tracy  has  performed  his  work  well,  and  it  is  one  that  should  be 
found  in  the  library  of  every  intelligent  citizen.  It  is  interesting  in 
matter  and  subjects,  and  invaluable  for  a  reference.  The  volume  is 
handsomely  printed  and  illustrated  with  numerous  plates,  some  of  which 
were  drawn  and  engraved  and  printed  by  natives  at  Missionary  stations. 
The  whole  comprises  a  neat  octavo  volume  of  450  pages.  The  research, 
and  clear  and  concise  style  of  the  work  entitle  it  to  great  commeuda- 
tioD." — Boston  Traveler. 

THE   RELIGIOUS   LIFE  OF 

FRANCIS  MARKOE,   ESQ., 

for  many  years  an  eminent  merchant. 

By  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  D.D. 

"  In  a  small  volume  the  author  has  given  us  just  enough  insight  of  the 
remarkable  experience  of  one  who,  in  the  higher  walks  of  life,  honored 
the  Christian  profession,  to  make  us  feel  sadly  disappointed  that  we  are 
not  made  more  fully  acquainted  with  him.  No  one  can  read  the  ac- 
count of  his  conversion  without  feeling  from  that  moment  a  peculiar 
Interest  in  the  man." 

ELIZABETH  THORNTON : 

«R  THE  Flower  and  Fruit  of  Female  Piety,  &c. 
1  vol.  l8mo. 

"  This  is  the  sketch  of  a  young  female  possessing  no  common  excel- 
lence of  character ;  although  called  away  from  her  labors  of  Christian 
love  when  she  scarcely  numbered  a  score  of  years,  she  was  trvUy  ripe 
for  heaven.  She  lived  and  acted  while  life  was  hers  for  the  great  end 
of  being ;  and  no  one  of  her  sex  could  read  this  development  of  an  ex- 
alted character  without  the  desire  to  imitate  such  an  example.  It  is 
just  such  a  book  we  can  most  heaitiJy  recommend  for  the  Family  and 
Sunday  School  Library. — .V.  Y.  Com.  Adoertiser. 

19 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  by  M.  W.  Dodd. 

PROFESSOR  ALDEFS  WORKS. 


THE  OLD  STONE  HOUSE  j 

Or,  the  Patriot's  Fireside.      By  Joseph  Alden,  D.D. 

"This  is  not  only  a  capital  book  for  boys,  but  suggests  sentiments 
not  unworthy  the  attention  of  children  of  a  larger  growth.  In  it,  the 
spirit  of  true  patriotism  is  finely  illustrated  by  the  examples  of  such 
men  as  John  Jay,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Governor  Morris,  and  our  immor- 
tal Washington.  To  those  of  our  young  friends  who  are  looking  for- 
ward to  the  day  when  they  may  become  statesmen,  we  would  cor- 
dially commend  this  little  work,  as  an  agreeable  introduction  to  the 
study  of  the  constitution  and  history  of  the  government  under  which  It 
is  their  high  privilege  to  live" — JVewark  Daily  Advertise?'. 

"The  object  of  this  volume  is  unique  among  books  for  children; 
namely,  to  convey  information  of  some  of  the  early  fathers  of  the 
state  and  the  foundation  of  the  Government,  which  is  done  in  a  simple, 
intelligible  way,  and  calculated,  from  the  form  of  conversation,  to  ar- 
rest the  attention.  Its  purpose  and  execution  are  highly  commenda- 
ble."— Literary  World. 

"Professor  Alden's  juvenile  books  are,  in  many  respects,  patterns  of 
publications  for  the  young.  They  have  a  purity,  simpUcity  and  gravity 
of  style,  thp^must  do  much  towards  forming  mental  and  moral  charac- 
teristics on  me  best  model." — Religious  Recorder. 

"  Under  the  guise  of  a  familiar,  pleasant  tale  of  the  Revolutionary 
era.  Dr.  Alden  has  here  presented  a  condent;ed  and  most  excellent  com- 
pend  of  the  elementary  principles  of  the  science  of  government,  and 
our  early  political  history\  It  strikes  us  as  one  of  the  most  useful,  a» 
well  as  able  and  ingenious  of  the  author's  many  valuable  juvenile 
works,  and  will  be  a  good  book  for  the  family,  and  not  less  for  the 
school-room." — jV.  Y.  Evangelist. 

EXAMPLE  OF  WASHINGTON. 

"A  little  volume  of  great  value.  The  author  does  not  pretend  to 
give  the  example  of  Washington  in  his  entire  life,  but  employs  the 
weight  of  his  great  name  to  arrest  and  fix  the  attention  of  the  yoi^uS 
upon  some  of  the  essential  excellencies  of  character  that  were  so  fully 
illustrated  in  that  unequalled  specimen  of  human  greatness— the  prom- 
inent points  in  the  work  being  the  character  of  Washington  as  a  re- 
ligious man.  The  book  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  youth  in  the 
land." 

REVIVAL    IN   SCHOOL. 

"  This  book  is  a  good  one  for  parents,  teachers,  and  children.  Some 
of  the  ditficult  questions  in  Christian  causistry  are  here  indirectly  solved 
in  a  very  intelligible  manner;  and  the  touchstone  of  piety  is  skilfully 
applied.  No  Sabbath  school  or  juvenile  library  should  be  without  it." 
—Christian  Mirror. 


Just  published,  in  size  and  style  corresponding  with  the 
above,  and  to  match,  "  The  Pilgrim  Fathers."  Though 
this  does  not  bear  its  author's  name,  yet  no  reader  of  Prof. 
Alden's  admirable  books  will  be  at  a  loss  to  determine  from 
whence  it  comes. 
80 


Books  Publislied  and  for  Sale  by  M,  W.  Dodd. 

JUVENILE   BOOKS. 

THE   TRAVELLER; 

OR,    WONDERS    OF    NATURE. 

"The  study  of  nature  is  always  interesting,  and  should  be  beneficial, 
especially  by  raising  the  thoughts  to  God,  and  exciting  admiration  of 
him.  The  portions  of  His  works  noticed  in  these  volumes,  are  moun« 
tains,  volcanoes,  precipices,  caverns,  earthquakes,  deserts,  rivers,  con- 
tinents, whirlwinds,  whirlpools,  and  waterspouts." — Christian  Mirror. 

"An  interesting  and  instructive  volume,  which  should  be  added  to 
every  child's  library,  and  may  be  read  with  profit  by  older  persons." — 
Methodist  Protestant. 

MRS.    SHERWOOD'S   WORKS. 

I. 'The  Drooping  Lily.'  l8mo.  II. 'The  Violet  Leaf.'  l8mo. 
III.*'  The  LoFiT  and  Lowly  Way.'  18mo.  New  ed. 
"  These  volumes  contain  each,  one  or  more  biographical  sketches  from 
the  eloquent  pen  of  Mrs.  Sherwood.  They  are  among  her  early  publi- 
cations, and  of  course  bear  no  trace  of  the  sad  change  which  subse- 
quently occurred  in  her  religious  sentiments.  On  the  contrary,  they 
convey,  with  the  captivating  and  winning  style  of  Mrs.  Sherwood,  most 
hijportant  religious  truth. 

MORAL   TALES   FOR   CHILDREN. 

By  Uncle  Arthur.  Illustrated  by  seven  Engravings, 
1  vol.  3'2mo. 
"  Dncle  Arthur,  the  avowed  narrator  of  these  stories,  must  be  a  new 
relation  of  Peter  Parley  and  Robert  Merry,  he  has  so  happy  a  faculty 
of  arresting  the  attention  and  winning  the  regard  of  the  young.  Hi3 
stories  are  simple  and  natural :  having  a  direct  religious  tendency,  and 
cannot  fail  to  exert  a  salutary  influr;nce  upon  the  juvenile  mind." — 
Boston  Merc.  Journal. 

PLAY-ROOM    POETRY. 

By  S.  S.  H. 
"  It  is  our  good  fortune  to  know  how  much  cordial  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  the  young,  how  much  clear  knowledge  of  human  nature, 
what  a  world  of  goodness,  tact,  and  quiet  virtue,  lurk  under  these  mys- 
terious initials.  The  book  is  what  the  work  of  such  an  authoress 
ought  to  be, — fresh,  original,  simple,  and  suited  exactly  to  those  who 
are  to  study  it.  We  never  saw  a  better  work  for  youn^g  children.*'— 
J^ew  England  Weekly  Review. 

SCENES    IN   ROME,* 

IN  THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 
By  J.  W.  Taylor.  18mo.  New  ed. 
"This  little  work  carries  us  back  into  the  heart  of  Pagan  Rome,  and 
shows  us  Christianity  in  some  of  its  most  vigorous  workings  with  the 
power  of  evil.  It  narrates  various  scenes,  which,  without  any  great 
effort  of  imagination,  may  be  siipposed  to  have  taken  place  under  the 
reign  of  bloody  Nero  ;  and  the  lofty  moral  heroism  which  it  exhibits 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  spirit  of  fiend-like  cruelty  which  comes  out 
on  the  other,  fill  us  with  alternate  admiration  and  horror." — .ilbany 
Daily  Citixtn. 

81 


Books  Published  and  for  Sale  by  M.  W.  Dodd. 

MUSICAL  WORKS  BY  HASTINGS. 


MOTHERS'    NURSERY   SONGS. 

By  Thomas  Hastings.     16mo, 

"  Those  that  know  anything  of  the  learning,  piety,  and  musical  taste 
and  skill  of  Hastings,  desire  no  other  recommendation  for  this  little 
book,  than  the  simple  fact  that  he  is  the  author  of  it. 

"  This  little  book  contains,  first,  six  little  cliapters  on  the  'Rudiments 
of  Notation  ;'  then  follows  a  selection  of  simple,  beautiful,  and  touch- 
ing songs  and  hymns  for  children,  set  to  music,  and  divided  into  four 
parts,  viz.:  Parti.  'The  Cradle.'  Part  II.  'The  Nursery.'  Part  III. 
'The  Class  Room,'     Part  IV.  'The  Altar.'  "— ,St.  Louis  Herald. 

"We  do  take  great  delight  in  attractive  books  intended  to  do  good  to 
children.  We  have  gone  through  this  book  with  pleasure.  Some  of 
the  songs  are  verj-  touching,  and  others  very  sprightly.  That  one 
opening  '  Baby  is  crying,'  came  upon  us  with  great  effect,  especially 
the  stanza  beginning, 

» I  wish  he  were  quiet. 
He  makes  such  a  riot. 
That  nobody  else  can  be  heard.'  " 

Southern  Methodist  Pulpit. 

THE   SUNDAY    SCHOOL   LYRE. 

Words  and  Music  chiefly  new. 

Compiled  and  Composkd  by  Thomas  Hastings. 

16mo. 

"In  the  language  of  the  author's  Preface,  'the  object  of  this  little 
work  is  to  combine  religious  instruction  vrilh  the  enjoyment  of  chaste, 
and  simple  music'  Whether  this  object  has  been  attained  we  need  not 
ask,  when  we  know  the  author's  name.  We  know  of  vothitiff  contain- 
ing, in  so  small  a  compass,  or  indeed  in  any  shajie,  that  which  is  so 
well  adapted  to  the  Sunday  schools  of  our  land.  In  the  number  of 
thirty-two  tunes  of  different  metres,  we  have  an  ample  range  afforded 
for  the  selection  of  tunes  suited  to  any  metre  needed  in  Sunday  school 
singing,  and  this  music,  of  the  most  chaste  and  pure  description,  at  the 
same  time  perfectly  simple.  The  hymns,  too,  of  which  there  are  some 
thirty  or  fortj',  are  of  the  most  admirable  character.  We  believe,  too. 
It  is  the  design  of  the  publisher  to  furnish  the  work  at  so  low  a  price 
(some  four  or  five  cents)  as  to  make  that  no  obstacle,  in  any  case,  to 
their  introduction  in  our  Sunday  schools." 

THE   CHILD'S   BOOK   OF   DEVOTION. 

A  Collection  of  Hymns  and  Prayers  in  Verse,  por 
Children.     ISmo. 
By  Rev.  John  A.  Murray. 
39 


SABBATH  SCHOOL 

BOOK    DEPOSITORY 


BEING  SOLE  AGENT  IN  NEW  YORK  FOR  THE  SALE  OP  THK 
PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE 

MASSACHUSETTS  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  SOCIETY, 

We  have  at  all  times  on  hand  a  full  assortment  of  their  publi- 
cations, in  quantities  which  we  furnish  at  wholesale  and  retail 
at  the  Society's  prices  in  Boston.  In  addition  to  their  valua- 
ble series  of  Library  Books,  they  publish  a  series  of  Question 
Books,  for  Sunday  Schools  and  Bible  Classes,  which  are  un- 
surpassed, if  equalled,  by  any  now  in  use. 

In  connection  with  the  above,  we  have  a  large  assortment 
of  books  published  by  ourselves  and  other  individual  pub- 
lishers, suitable  for  Sunday  School  Libraries. 

The  above,  with  the  publications  of  the  Tract  Societies, 
and  other  Sunday  School  Societies,  which  are  furnished  by 
us  at  Societies"  prices,  give  us  unusual  facilities  for  filling 
orders  for  anything  needed  for  Sunday  Schools. 


SUNDAY    SCHOOL    LYRE. 

Words  and  Music  chiefly  new. 

COMPILED    AND    COMPOSED 

By   THOMAS     HASTINGS, 

AUTHOR  OF  VARIOUS  MUSICAL  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  PRODUCTIONS. 

The  superior  character  of  this  work,  for  one  of  its  kind, 
and  the  very  low  price  at  which  it  is  furnished,  commends 
it  to  the  special  attention   of  those  connected  with  Sunday 
Schools. 
24 


M.    ¥.   DODD, 
Ipubltsljcr   anb   i3ook0eUcr, 


IN   ADDITION  TO 


Eli  (DWH  IPIDFIBILII(DATI!(D)H§5 

HAS   ALWAYS    ON   HAND 

A.MERICAN  AND  FOREIGN  WORKS, 

IN 

RELIGIOUS,    THEOLOGICAL, 
STANDARD  &  MISCELLANEOUS  LITERATURE, 

AND  la 

CONSTANTLY  RECEIVING  NEW  WORKS, 

AS   THEY    ARE    ISSUED    FROM    THE    PRESS, 

AtL   OF   WHICH   HE    WILL   SELL,   AT 

l¥B[OIL.E§AI.X:    on    RETAir.^ 

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RESPECTFULLY       8  O  L  I  C I T fi D . 


